One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 USDA zone info for Tampa can be reviewed to determine when you can plant torch lilys.

Planting Calendar for Torch Lilys

Frost tolerance for torch lilys:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since torch lilys are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant torch lilys 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 torch lilys and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your torch lilys may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your torch lilys indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Tampa the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

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 there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your torch lilys 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.