When to Plant Rhubarb in Winters, CA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 using the USDA zone info for Winters it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant rhubarb.


Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant rhubarb
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant rhubarb
Probably not a good time to plant rhubarb

The earliest that you can plant rhubarb in Winters 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 rhubarb and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your rhubarb may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your rhubarb indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Winters. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winters is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Winters it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your rhubarb if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winters

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Winters

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