One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant schizanthus by looking at the USDA zone info for Sanibel.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

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

You should not plant schizanthus until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Sanibel is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. If you are starting your schizanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Sanibel. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sanibel and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sanibel it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your schizanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sanibel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Sanibel

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