One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant snapdragons is to use the USDA zone info for California.

Planting Calendar for Snapdragons

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

Since snapdragons do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant snapdragons in California 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 snapdragons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your snapdragons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your snapdragons indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for California 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 California you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your snapdragons if you have a late frost.

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.