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.

The USDA zone info for Zone 10a should be looked at to estimate when to plant thyme.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

Frost tolerance for thyme:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Thyme do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Zone 10a 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 thyme and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Zone 10a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 10a is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 10a last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your thyme in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 10a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 10a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 10a.