When to Plant Begonias in San Mateo, CA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The earliest that you can plant begonias in San Mateo should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant begonias until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant begonias in San Mateo 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your begonias indoors.

Last Frost Date

In San Mateo the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Mateo and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in San Mateo there is a last frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your begonias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Mateo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in San Mateo

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