When to Plant Tall Phlox in San Diego, CA

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

The USDA zone info for San Diego should be read to determine when it's the best time to plant tall phlox.


Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

Tall Phlox are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox in San Diego 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 tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tall phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tall phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

In San Diego the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for San Diego is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in San Diego you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tall phlox in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in San Diego

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Diego.