One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 figuring out when it's the best time to plant tall phlox is to look at the USDA zone info for Duarte.

Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

Tall Phlox do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox in Duarte 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 tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your tall phlox may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your tall phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Duarte. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Duarte is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Duarte last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your tall phlox in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Duarte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Duarte

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