One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 it's possible to plant cauliflower is to examine the USDA zone info for Gilroy.

Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

Frost tolerance for cauliflower:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Cauliflower tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower in Gilroy 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 cauliflower and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cauliflower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cauliflower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gilroy the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gilroy is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gilroy it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cauliflower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gilroy

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 Gilroy

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