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 USDA zone info for Tampa should be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant torenia.

Planting Calendar for Torenia

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

Since torenia do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant torenia 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 torenia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your torenia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your torenia 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.

Remember that USDA zone info for Tampa is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Tampa last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your torenia 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.