One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 balloon flower in El Centro should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant balloon flower just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in El Centro is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your balloon flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your balloon flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In El Centro the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Centro and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in El Centro there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your balloon flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Centro

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 El Centro

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Centro.