One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant perilla is to refer to the USDA zone info for Hanford.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since perilla do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Hanford 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your perilla indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Hanford. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hanford and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hanford you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your perilla if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hanford

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 Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 Hanford

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