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

One way of making a decision about when to plant firebush is to use the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

Frost tolerance for firebush:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Firebush do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Santa Monica 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your firebush indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Monica the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Monica and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Monica it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your firebush in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Monica

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