The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 9a can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant painted tongues.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

It's not a good idea to plant painted tongues until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Zone 9a 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your painted tongues indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Zone 9a. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 9a is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 9a you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your painted tongues if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

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 Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.