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.

The earliest that you can plant lemon grass in Orinda should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lemon grass

Frost tolerance for lemon grass:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since lemon grass are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lemon grass in Orinda is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lemon grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lemon grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lemon grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Orinda. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Orinda is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Orinda you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your lemon grass if you have a 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.