One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant painted tongues by checking out the USDA zone info for Longboat Key.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

Painted Tongues do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Longboat Key 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your painted tongues may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your painted tongues indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Longboat Key. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Longboat Key is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Longboat Key last frost occurs after January 31 so always be ready to protect your painted tongues if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longboat Key

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Longboat Key

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