When to Plant Coreopsis in Tampa, FL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant coreopsis is to look at the USDA zone info for Tampa.


Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Coreopsis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Tampa 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 coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your coreopsis may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your coreopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Tampa. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

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 you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your coreopsis in the event of a late frost.

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 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 Tampa

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