The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant sunflowers by reviewing the USDA zone info for Carpinteria.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Since sunflowers do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Carpinteria 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your sunflowers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Carpinteria the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carpinteria is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Carpinteria last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your sunflowers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carpinteria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Carpinteria

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