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.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant achimenes is to check out the USDA zone info for La Palma.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably a bad idea to plant achimenes until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in La Palma 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your achimenes may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your achimenes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in La Palma. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for La Palma is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in La Palma you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your achimenes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Palma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in La Palma

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Palma.