One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant delphinium by using the USDA zone info for Benicia.

Planting Calendar for Delphinium

Frost tolerance for delphinium:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant delphinium slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Benicia is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant delphinium and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your delphinium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your delphinium indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Benicia and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Benicia it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your delphinium in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.