One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant firebush is to examine the USDA zone info for Ceres.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

Since firebush do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Ceres 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your firebush indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ceres the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ceres and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Ceres it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your firebush in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ceres

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 Ceres

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