One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 figuring out when it's a good idea to plant cleome is to check out the USDA zone info for Port Lavaca.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Cleome do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Port Lavaca 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cleome indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Port Lavaca the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Port Lavaca may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Port Lavaca you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cleome if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Lavaca

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 Port Lavaca

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Lavaca.