One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant brachycome is to examine the USDA zone info for Novato.

Planting Calendar for Brachycome

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

Since brachycome do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant brachycome in Novato 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 brachycome and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your brachycome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your brachycome indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Novato. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Novato is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Novato it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your brachycome in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Novato

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 Novato

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