Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's possible to plant cleome by reviewing the USDA zone info for Malibu.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

It's a bad idea to plant cleome until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Malibu 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cleome indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Malibu is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Malibu you get a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your cleome if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Malibu

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 Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°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 Malibu

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