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.

The USDA zone info for Palm Desert can be used to determine when to plant pearl onions.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

Pearl onions can survive in very little cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pearl onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Palm Desert. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Palm Desert is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Palm Desert last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pearl onions in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.