One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Novato you can estimate when it's the best time to plant helianthemum by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Helianthemum

Frost tolerance for helianthemum:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant helianthemum a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant helianthemum in Novato is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant helianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your helianthemum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your helianthemum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Novato. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Novato and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Novato last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your helianthemum 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.