One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 should be used to figure out when it's possible to plant lavender.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

Since lavender 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 plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Palo Alto and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Palo Alto it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to cover your lavender in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.