One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant cuphea is to refer to the USDA zone info for Larkspur.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

You can not plant cuphea until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Larkspur is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cuphea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Larkspur. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Larkspur is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Larkspur you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your cuphea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Larkspur

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 Larkspur

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