One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By using the USDA zone info for El Centro you should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant geranium.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

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

Since geranium require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant geranium 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 geranium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your geranium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your geranium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in El Centro. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in El Centro last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your geranium if you have one of those late frosts.

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.