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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant lavender cotton is to look at the USDA zone info for Ocala.

Planting Calendar for Lavender Cotton

Frost tolerance for lavender cotton:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lavender Cotton do ok in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lavender cotton 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 lavender cotton and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lavender cotton may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your lavender cotton 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 Ocala. In the coldest months of winter you can 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ocala you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your lavender cotton if you have 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.