When to Plant Pincushion Flower in Palo Alto, CA

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

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant pincushion flower by looking at the USDA zone info for Palo Alto.


Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

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

You can plant pincushion flower a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pincushion flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Palo Alto the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Palo Alto is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Palo Alto you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your pincushion flower 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.