The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant sanvitalia is to use the USDA zone info for Charleston.

Planting Calendar for Sanvitalia

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

Sanvitalia are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant sanvitalia in Charleston 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 sanvitalia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sanvitalia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your sanvitalia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Charleston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Charleston and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your sanvitalia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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