One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 begonias in Tampa can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Begonias

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

You really shouldn't plant begonias until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Tampa 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your begonias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Tampa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Tampa is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Tampa there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your begonias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Tampa

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 Tampa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Tampa.