When to Plant Caladium in Lake Wales, FL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Lake Wales you can determine when to plant caladium by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant caladium until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant caladium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant caladium
Probably not a good time to plant caladium

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Lake Wales is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your caladium may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your caladium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Lake Wales. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lake Wales is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Wales there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your caladium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Wales

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Wales

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Wales.