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.

In Goleta you can determine when it's the best time to plant balloon flower by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

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

Since balloon flower do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Goleta. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Goleta and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Goleta there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your balloon flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Goleta

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 Goleta

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