One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of estimating when to plant fanflower is to examine the USDA zone info for Portola Valley.

Planting Calendar for Fanflower

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

Fanflower are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant fanflower in Portola Valley is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fanflower and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fanflower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your fanflower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Portola Valley. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Portola Valley is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Portola Valley you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your fanflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portola Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Portola Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Portola Valley.