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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant salvia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Malibu.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

Frost tolerance for salvia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Salvia do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salvia 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 salvia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salvia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Malibu the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Malibu is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Malibu there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your salvia in the event of 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.