One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 you can plant calendula is to examine the USDA zone info for Palm Desert.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

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

Since calendula are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Palm Desert 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 calendula and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your calendula indoors.

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.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Palm Desert is 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 surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your calendula if you have 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 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 Palm Desert

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