The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant calliopsis is to look at the USDA zone info for Arcata.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Since calliopsis require warm weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Arcata. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Arcata is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Arcata you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your calliopsis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Arcata

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Arcata

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