One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Taft it's a good idea to determine when to plant larkspur.

Planting Calendar for Larkspur

Frost tolerance for larkspur:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Larkspur are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in Taft 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 larkspur and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your larkspur may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your larkspur indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Taft. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Taft is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Taft it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your larkspur in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Taft

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Taft

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Taft.