One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant borage is to look at the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Borage do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant borage in Rancho Santa Margarita 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your borage may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your borage indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Rancho Santa Margarita. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rancho Santa Margarita last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your borage if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rancho Santa Margarita

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 Rancho Santa Margarita

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rancho Santa Margarita.