One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant sorrel is to examine the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Planting Calendar for Sorrel

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

Sorrel are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sorrel 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 sorrel and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sorrel may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your sorrel indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rancho Santa Margarita the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita and it is different every year. Half of the time in Rancho Santa Margarita you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your sorrel in the event of a late frost.

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.