One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Whittier you can estimate when to plant sunflowers by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

Frost tolerance for sunflowers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant sunflowers until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Whittier 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sunflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Whittier. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Whittier may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Whittier it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your sunflowers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Whittier

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 Whittier

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