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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant perilla is to refer to the USDA zone info for Sierra Madre.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since perilla require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Sierra Madre 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your perilla indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Sierra Madre. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Sierra Madre is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Sierra Madre it frosts late in the year after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your perilla if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sierra Madre

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 Sierra Madre

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sierra Madre.