One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 can be reviewed to determine when to plant painted tongues.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

It's a bad idea to plant painted tongues until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your painted tongues may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your painted tongues indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Needles. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Needles is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Needles you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your painted tongues if you have a surprise 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.