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.

The first opportunity to plant schizanthus in Benicia should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

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

Since schizanthus are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your schizanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Benicia and it is different every year. Half of the time in Benicia last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your schizanthus in the event of 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.