One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant achimenes in Carlsbad by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since achimenes do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Carlsbad is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your achimenes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your achimenes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Carlsbad. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Carlsbad is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Carlsbad you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your achimenes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carlsbad

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Carlsbad

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