The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant alyssum in Monterey can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Since alyssum do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Monterey 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your alyssum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Monterey. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Monterey and it is different every year. Half of the time in Monterey there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your alyssum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Monterey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Monterey

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