Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant chrysanthemums by reviewing the USDA zone info for Santa Ana.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

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

Chrysanthemums tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in Santa Ana. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Ana and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Ana last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your chrysanthemums in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Ana

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 Santa Ana

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Ana.