One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant sunflowers in San Mateo should be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

Sunflowers are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your sunflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Mateo. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for San Mateo is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in San Mateo you get a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°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.