One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant roses is to use the USDA zone info for Tampa.

Planting Calendar for Roses

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

You can plant roses a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant roses 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your roses may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your roses indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Tampa is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Tampa you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your roses 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.