When to Plant Oleander in Palo Alto, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant oleander in Palo Alto can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Oleander

Frost tolerance for oleander: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Oleander are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant oleander 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 oleander and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your oleander may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oleander indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Palo Alto. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Palo Alto and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Palo Alto last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your oleander in the event of 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 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.