One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant caladium in Philadelphia by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Caladium require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Philadelphia is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant caladium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Philadelphia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Philadelphia and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Philadelphia you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your caladium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Philadelphia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Philadelphia

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