When to Plant Verbena in Berkeley, CA

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.

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Berkeley should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Verbena

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

Since verbena do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant verbena
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant verbena
Probably not a good time to plant verbena

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Berkeley. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Berkeley may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Berkeley last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your verbena in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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.