One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant polygonums by checking out the USDA zone info for Monterey.

Planting Calendar for Polygonums

Frost tolerance for polygonums:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant polygonums until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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. Half of the time in Monterey you get a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your polygonums if you have a late frost.

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.