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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant tithonia in Chico by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant tithonia until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia 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 tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tithonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Chico. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chico is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chico it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tithonia in the event of 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.