When to Plant Sunflowers in Gonzales, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant sunflowers in Gonzales should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since sunflowers are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Gonzales 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your sunflowers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Gonzales is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Gonzales you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gonzales

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Gonzales

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