One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Los Altos you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant doronicum.

Planting Calendar for Doronicum

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

Since doronicum do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant doronicum in Los Altos 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 doronicum and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your doronicum may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your doronicum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Los Altos. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Altos and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Los Altos it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your doronicum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Altos

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 Los Altos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Altos.