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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Okeechobee you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant mecardonia.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since mecardonia require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mecardonia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your mecardonia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Okeechobee it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your mecardonia 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.