One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant sunflowers is to check out the USDA zone info for Bakersfield.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since sunflowers require warm weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Bakersfield 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Bakersfield. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Bakersfield is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bakersfield you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your sunflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bakersfield

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 Bakersfield

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bakersfield.