One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Tampa can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

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

Salvia tend to make it in very little cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Tampa 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 salvia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your salvia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Tampa the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Tampa is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Tampa you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your salvia if you have 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 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.