One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The first chance to plant cleome in Tampa should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Cleome do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cleome 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cleome indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Tampa. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

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