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.

The USDA zone info for Needles should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant cuphea.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

You should not plant cuphea until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Needles is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Needles the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Needles and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Needles there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your cuphea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Needles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Needles

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Needles.