One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of determining when to plant saxifraga is to examine the USDA zone info for Palm Desert.

Planting Calendar for Saxifraga

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

Since saxifraga do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Palm Desert may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Palm Desert last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your saxifraga in the event of a 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.