One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant arctotis by checking out the USDA zone info for Ocala.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

Frost tolerance for arctotis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Arctotis are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Ocala 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 arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arctotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your arctotis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ocala the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ocala is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ocala last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your arctotis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ocala

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Ocala

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