One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Santa Cruz you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant lavender cotton by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lavender Cotton

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

Lavender Cotton do well in cold which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lavender cotton in Santa Cruz 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 lavender cotton and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your lavender cotton may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lavender cotton indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Cruz the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lavender cotton if you have a surprise late frost.

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.