One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant broccoli by checking out the USDA zone info for Sarasota.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

Frost tolerance for broccoli:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Broccoli are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant broccoli in Sarasota is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your broccoli may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your broccoli indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sarasota the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sarasota and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sarasota you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your broccoli in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sarasota

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 Sarasota

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