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

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant balloon flower is to examine the USDA zone info for Vista.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since balloon flower do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Vista 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 balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your balloon flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Vista the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vista and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Vista it frosts late in the year after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to protect your balloon flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vista

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 Vista

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