When to Plant Lavender in Los Angeles, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 using the USDA zone info for Los Angeles it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant lavender.


Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

You can plant lavender a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Los Angeles. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Los Angeles is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Los Angeles you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your lavender in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Los Angeles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Los Angeles

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