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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant okra is to use the USDA zone info for Florence.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Okra are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Florence 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 okra and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Florence. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Florence may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Florence you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your okra if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

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 Florence

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