One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

One way of figuring out when to plant anchusa is to use the USDA zone info for Benicia.

Planting Calendar for Anchusa

Frost tolerance for anchusa:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Anchusa can survive in cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant anchusa in Benicia 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 anchusa and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your anchusa may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your anchusa indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Benicia the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Benicia is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Benicia you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your anchusa if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benicia

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 Benicia

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