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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant lisianthus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Monterey.

Planting Calendar for Lisianthus

Frost tolerance for lisianthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Lisianthus require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant lisianthus 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 lisianthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lisianthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lisianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Monterey. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Monterey is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Monterey you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your lisianthus if you have 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.