When to Plant Bittercress in La Palma, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for La Palma it's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant bittercress.


Planting Calendar for Bittercress

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

Since bittercress are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant bittercress 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 bittercress and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bittercress may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bittercress 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. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for La Palma and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in La Palma it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bittercress in the event of a surprise 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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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.