One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant lobelia is to check out the USDA zone info for Sarasota.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant lobelia earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lobelia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lobelia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Sarasota is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sarasota it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your lobelia if you have 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.