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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant hosta is to refer to the USDA zone info for Gainesville.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

You can plant hosta just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

In Gainesville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gainesville is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your hosta in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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