One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In South El Monte you can estimate when it's possible to plant garden mums by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

Frost tolerance for garden mums:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant garden mums a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in South El Monte is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your garden mums indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In South El Monte 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.

Remember that USDA zone info for South El Monte may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in South El Monte you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your garden mums if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

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 South El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South El Monte.