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.

In Portola Valley you can determine when you can plant firebush by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

Frost tolerance for firebush:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant firebush until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant firebush 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your firebush indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Portola Valley. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure 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 Portola Valley and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Portola Valley there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your firebush in the event of a late frost.

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.