When to Plant Rhubarb in Irvine, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant rhubarb by looking at the USDA zone info for Irvine.


Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

Frost tolerance for rhubarb: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since rhubarb are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Irvine is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Irvine there is a last frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to protect your rhubarb in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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.