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 Long Beach you can estimate when it's the best time to plant balloon flower by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant balloon flower just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Long Beach 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your balloon flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Long Beach. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Long Beach and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Long Beach it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your balloon flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Long Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Long Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Long Beach.