One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant skullcap is to refer to the USDA zone info for Downey.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

Frost tolerance for skullcap:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Skullcap do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant skullcap in Downey 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your skullcap may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your skullcap indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Downey. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Downey and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Downey you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your skullcap in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Downey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Downey

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