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.

A way of estimating when to plant red hot pokers is to look at the USDA zone info for El Cerrito.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Red Hot Pokers tend to make it in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in El Cerrito 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in El Cerrito. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for El Cerrito may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in El Cerrito last frost occurs after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your red hot pokers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Cerrito

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 Cerrito

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