One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

A way of estimating when you can plant calliopsis is to refer to the USDA zone info for California.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

It's not a good idea to plant calliopsis until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in California 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In California the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for California is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in California it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your calliopsis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for California

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in California

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