One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 Orinda you can estimate when you can plant romaine lettuce by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

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

Since romaine lettuce do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your romaine lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Orinda you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your romaine lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

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.