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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant cuphea is to refer to the USDA zone info for Barstow.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Cuphea require warm weather which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Barstow 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cuphea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Barstow the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Barstow may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Barstow you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your cuphea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Barstow

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Barstow

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