Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant rhubarb in Arcata by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

Rhubarb are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant rhubarb 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 rhubarb and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rhubarb may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your rhubarb indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Arcata. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Arcata may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Arcata it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your rhubarb 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.