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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant salsify is to consult the USDA zone info for San Diego.

Planting Calendar for Salsify

Frost tolerance for salsify:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Salsify are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salsify in San Diego 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 salsify and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salsify may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your salsify indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Diego and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in San Diego you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your salsify if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

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 San Diego

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Diego.