One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Victoria can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant stevia.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

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

Stevia do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Victoria 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your stevia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Victoria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Victoria is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Victoria there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your stevia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Victoria

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 Victoria

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