One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant balloon flower is to check out the USDA zone info for Lathrop.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

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

Balloon Flower do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Lathrop 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 Lathrop is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lathrop you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your balloon flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lathrop

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 Lathrop

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