One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 first opportunity to plant caladium in Sarasota can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

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

You should not plant caladium until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Sarasota 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. If you wait any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your caladium indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Sarasota may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sarasota there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your caladium if you have a surprise 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.