One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Orange you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant nigella by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

Frost tolerance for nigella:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since nigella do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Orange. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Orange you get a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your nigella in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Orange

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