One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant tithonia is to consult the USDA zone info for Fortuna.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant tithonia until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia in Fortuna is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your tithonia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Fortuna. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fortuna is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Fortuna you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your tithonia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fortuna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Fortuna

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