When to Plant Delphinium in Grass Valley, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant delphinium in Grass Valley can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Delphinium

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Grass 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 delphinium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your delphinium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your delphinium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Grass Valley. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Grass Valley is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Grass Valley there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your delphinium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grass Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Grass Valley

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