One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when to plant schizanthus is to examine the USDA zone info for Ocala.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant schizanthus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Ocala is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your schizanthus 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Ocala may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ocala you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your schizanthus 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.