Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant schizanthus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Homestead.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since schizanthus do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Homestead is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your schizanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Homestead the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Homestead and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Homestead last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your schizanthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Homestead

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Homestead

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Homestead.