One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 getting a good idea when to plant veronica is to look at the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Planting Calendar for Veronica

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

Since veronica are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant veronica 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 veronica and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your veronica may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your veronica indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rancho Santa Margarita you get a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your veronica if you have a surprise 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.