One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 estimating when it's the best time to plant mustard is to refer to the USDA zone info for Benicia.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Mustard do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mustard in Benicia 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mustard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your mustard indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Benicia. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Benicia is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Benicia you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your mustard 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.