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.

The USDA zone info for Orange can be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant carrots.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

Since carrots are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Orange is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In Orange the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Orange last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to cover your carrots in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange

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 Orange

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