One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant salpiglossis is to look at the USDA zone info for El Dorado.

Planting Calendar for Salpiglossis

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

Since salpiglossis do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant salpiglossis in El Dorado 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 salpiglossis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salpiglossis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your salpiglossis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In El Dorado the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for El Dorado is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in El Dorado last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to protect your salpiglossis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Dorado

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 El Dorado

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Dorado.