When to Plant Petunias in Sarasota, FL

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 chance to plant petunias in Sarasota should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant petunias just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant petunias
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant petunias
Probably not a good time to plant petunias

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

The last month that you can plant petunias and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your petunias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your petunias indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Sarasota the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during 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. Half of the time in Sarasota there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your petunias in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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.