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

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant phlox is to examine the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

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

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Ridgecrest 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Ridgecrest. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Ridgecrest is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ridgecrest you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgecrest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ridgecrest.