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 USDA zone info for Berkeley should be looked at to estimate when you can plant achimenes.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since achimenes require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Berkeley 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Berkeley. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Berkeley is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Berkeley you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your achimenes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Berkeley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkeley

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