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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Ripon it's possible to estimate when you can plant lobelia.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia tend to make it in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Ripon 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lobelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your lobelia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Ripon. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ripon is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ripon there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your lobelia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ripon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Ripon

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