When to Plant Pampas Grass in Portola Valley, CA

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

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant pampas grass is to look at the USDA zone info for Portola Valley.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

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

You really shouldn't plant pampas grass until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pampas grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Portola Valley. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind 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 will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Portola Valley last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your pampas grass if you have 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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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.