frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Chrysanthemums in Fountain Valley, CA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 determining when it's the best time to plant chrysanthemums is to examine the USDA zone info for Fountain Valley.


Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

Frost tolerance for chrysanthemums: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Chrysanthemums do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chrysanthemums
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chrysanthemums
Probably not a good time to plant chrysanthemums

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Fountain Valley 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 chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chrysanthemums indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fountain Valley the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fountain Valley may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fountain Valley it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your chrysanthemums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fountain Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Fountain Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fountain Valley.