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

It's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant lithospermum by using the USDA zone info for Arcata.

Planting Calendar for Lithospermum

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant lithospermum until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lithospermum 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 lithospermum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lithospermum may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lithospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Arcata is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Arcata it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your lithospermum if you have a 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.