One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Sarasota you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant calliopsis.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Calliopsis require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Sarasota. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sarasota is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Sarasota last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your calliopsis 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.