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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant cuphea in El Monte by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant cuphea until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in El Monte 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cuphea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for El Monte may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in El Monte last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cuphea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Monte

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 Monte

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