One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Elsa it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant mecardonia.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Mecardonia do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your mecardonia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your mecardonia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Elsa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elsa is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Elsa there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your mecardonia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elsa

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 Elsa

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