One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

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

Planting Calendar for Dusty Miller

Frost tolerance for dusty miller:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant dusty miller a lot earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dusty miller in Arcata is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dusty miller and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your dusty miller may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dusty miller indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Arcata 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 Arcata you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your dusty miller if you have one of those late frosts.

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.