One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Palo Alto it's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant brachycome.

Planting Calendar for Brachycome

Frost tolerance for brachycome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since brachycome require warm weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant brachycome 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 brachycome and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your brachycome may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your brachycome 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 Palo Alto. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Palo Alto and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Palo Alto there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your brachycome if you have a surprise 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 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 Palo Alto

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