One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Irvine it's a good idea to figure out when to plant pansies.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

Frost tolerance for pansies:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Pansies do well in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Irvine 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pansies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Irvine the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Irvine is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Irvine last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your pansies in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Irvine

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Irvine

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