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.

The first chance to plant alternanthera in Mission Viejo can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alternanthera

Frost tolerance for alternanthera:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant alternanthera until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant alternanthera in Mission Viejo 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 alternanthera and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your alternanthera may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your alternanthera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mission Viejo and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mission Viejo last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your alternanthera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mission Viejo

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 Mission Viejo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mission Viejo.