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.

A way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant iberis is to examine the USDA zone info for Orinda.

Planting Calendar for Iberis

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

Since iberis do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant iberis in Orinda 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 iberis and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your iberis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your iberis indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Orinda the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Orinda may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Orinda last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your iberis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orinda

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 Orinda

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