When to Plant Begonias in Palo Alto, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Palo Alto can be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant begonias.


Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant begonias until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Palo Alto is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant begonias and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your begonias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Palo Alto 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.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Palo Alto is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Palo Alto you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your begonias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palo Alto

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 Palo Alto

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palo Alto.