When to Plant Balloon Flower in Palm Desert, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant balloon flower is to use the USDA zone info for Palm Desert.


Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

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

Balloon Flower do well in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant balloon flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant balloon flower
Probably not a good time to plant balloon flower

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Palm Desert 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 balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your balloon flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Palm Desert 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.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Palm Desert is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Palm Desert you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your balloon flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palm Desert

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Palm Desert

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palm Desert.