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.

It's possible to determine when to plant scabiosa by using the USDA zone info for Arcata.

Planting Calendar for Scabiosa

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

Since scabiosa do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant scabiosa 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 scabiosa and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scabiosa may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your scabiosa indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

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 the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Arcata and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Arcata you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your scabiosa 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.