One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 cleome in Chico can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Cleome require warm weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cleome 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cleome indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chico and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Chico you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your cleome if you have one of those late frosts.

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.