When to Plant Salvia in Lafayette, CA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Lafayette it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant salvia.


Planting Calendar for Salvia

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

Salvia are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Lafayette 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 salvia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salvia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lafayette the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lafayette is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lafayette you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your salvia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Lafayette

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