One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Okeechobee should be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant achimenes.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant achimenes until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Okeechobee 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your achimenes indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Okeechobee. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Okeechobee is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Okeechobee last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your achimenes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Okeechobee

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Okeechobee

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