When to Plant Pansies in Ocala, FL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Ocala should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

Since pansies are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant pansies 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pansies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Ocala. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ocala and it 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 protect your pansies in the event of 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 Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°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.