One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant mecardonia is to consult the USDA zone info for National City.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant mecardonia until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in National City. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for National City and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in National City there is a last frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your mecardonia 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.