One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Benicia you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant painted tongues.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

Frost tolerance for painted tongues:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You should not plant painted tongues until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your painted tongues indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Benicia. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Benicia may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Benicia you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your painted tongues 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.