One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant amaranthus is to look at the USDA zone info for San Rafael.

Planting Calendar for Amaranthus

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

Amaranthus require warm weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in San Rafael 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 amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your amaranthus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In San Rafael the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Rafael is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in San Rafael last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your amaranthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Rafael

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 Rafael

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