Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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 Novato should be reviewed to estimate when it's a good idea to plant cuphea.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

Since cuphea do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Novato may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit 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 cuphea if you have 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.