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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant celosia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Chico.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

Frost tolerance for celosia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant celosia 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 celosia in Chico 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celosia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your celosia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Chico. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chico is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chico you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your celosia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chico

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Chico

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