Rancho Penasquitos Gardening

 Sunset Climate Zone 21 for Rancho Penasquitos Gardening

Rancho Peñasquitos is a suburban community in the northeastern San Diego, California. It is named after the first Mexican land grant in the county, Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos. Peñasquitos means little cliffs in Spanish. It abuts Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, an open space preserve that offers hiking, biking, and equestrian trails. The community is commonly abbreviated “PQ.” Rancho Peñasquitos is roughly bounded: On the north by Black Mountain Ranch and Rancho Bernardo; On the south by Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Mira Mesa; On the east by Carmel Mountain Ranch, Poway, and Sabre Springs; and, on the west by Torrey Highlands and Del Mar Mesa. Native American Kumeyaay history within the area dates back as far as 7,000 years ago and the area is virtually dotted with morteros–remains of the prehistoric Native-American culture. Rancho de los Peñasquitos was a way station on the Wagon road to Warner’s Ranch from San Diego. Rancho Penasquitos is classified Sunset Climate Zone 21.

Zone 21 gets weather influenced by both maritime air and interior air. In these transitional areas, climate boundaries often move 20 miles in 24 hours with the movements of these air masses. Your garden can be in ocean air or a high fog one day and in a mass of interior air (perhaps a drying Santa Ana wind from the desert) the next day. Because temperatures rarely drop very far below 30°F, this is fine citrus growing country. Zone 21 is also the mildest zone that gets sufficient winter chilling for most forms of lilacs and certain other chill-loving plants. Extreme lows—the kind you see once every 10 or 20 years—Zone 21 averages 28 to 25°F. All-time record lows in Climate Zone 21 were 27 to 17°F.