When to Plant Calendula in Salinas, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant calendula in Salinas should be determined by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Calendula

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

You can plant calendula a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant calendula
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant calendula
Probably not a good time to plant calendula

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Salinas 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 calendula and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calendula indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Salinas. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Salinas is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Salinas there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your calendula in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salinas

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Salinas

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