One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant pincushion flower is to refer to the USDA zone info for Riverbank.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

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

Since pincushion flower are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower in Riverbank 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pincushion flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Riverbank. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Riverbank may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Riverbank last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your pincushion flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Riverbank

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 Riverbank

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