Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In National City you can determine when it's the best time to plant cuphea by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

Since cuphea require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in National City 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cuphea 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 National City. It might get as low as 35°F during 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 National City and it is different every year. Half of the time in National City it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cuphea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for National City

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 National City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for National City.