One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Sarasota you will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant pampas grass.

Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

Frost tolerance for pampas grass:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since pampas grass do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pampas grass may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pampas grass 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 is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sarasota you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your pampas grass 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.