One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Encinitas you can determine when to plant cleome by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since cleome require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Encinitas 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Encinitas is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Encinitas it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your cleome in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Encinitas

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 Encinitas

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