One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 common way of making a decision about when you can plant maltese cross is to look at the USDA zone info for Desert Hot Springs.

Planting Calendar for Maltese Cross

Frost tolerance for maltese cross:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant maltese cross a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant maltese cross in Desert Hot Springs is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant maltese cross and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your maltese cross may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your maltese cross indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Desert Hot Springs. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Desert Hot Springs is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Desert Hot Springs you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your maltese cross if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Desert Hot Springs

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 Desert Hot Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Desert Hot Springs.