Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant firebush is to look at the USDA zone info for Key West.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

Since firebush do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Key West is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant firebush and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your firebush may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your firebush indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Key West it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 45°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Key West is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to protect your firebush if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Key West

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Key West

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Key West.