One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Lathrop it's a good idea to figure out when to plant garden mums.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

Frost tolerance for garden mums:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Garden Mums are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Lathrop is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your garden mums indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lathrop and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lathrop last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your garden mums if you have 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.