Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden 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 determining when it's possible to plant lobelia is to look at the USDA zone info for Arcata.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

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

Since lobelia are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lobelia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lobelia 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. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Arcata and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Arcata there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lobelia in the event of 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.