One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Monterey you should be able to determine when to plant brachycome.

Planting Calendar for Brachycome

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

You can not plant brachycome until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Monterey is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Monterey you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your brachycome 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.