One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant hamelia is to look at the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

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

Since hamelia are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Santa Cruz 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 hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your hamelia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hamelia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Cruz the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your hamelia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Cruz

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