When to Plant Scarlet Pimpernels in San Luis Obispo, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo can be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant scarlet pimpernels.


Planting Calendar for Scarlet Pimpernels

Frost tolerance for scarlet pimpernels: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since scarlet pimpernels are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant scarlet pimpernels in San Luis Obispo 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 scarlet pimpernels and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your scarlet pimpernels may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your scarlet pimpernels indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In San Luis Obispo the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Luis Obispo and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in San Luis Obispo you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your scarlet pimpernels in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Luis Obispo

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 San Luis Obispo

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