The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant astilbe in Ocala by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Astilbe

Frost tolerance for astilbe:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Astilbe are barely cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Ocala 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Ocala. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ocala is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ocala you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your astilbe in the event of a late frost.

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.