One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Arcata it's possible to determine when to plant pincushion flower.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

Frost tolerance for pincushion flower:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Pincushion Flower do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pincushion flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Arcata the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average 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 last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pincushion flower in the event of 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.