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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant creeping phlox is to check out the USDA zone info for Malibu.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

Frost tolerance for creeping phlox:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Creeping Phlox do well in cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Malibu 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your creeping phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your creeping phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Malibu. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Malibu is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Malibu you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your creeping phlox if you have a surprise 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.