One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Palatka you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant caladium by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since caladium require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Palatka 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your caladium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Palatka. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Palatka 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 Palatka it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your caladium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palatka

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 Palatka

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