One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant nigella is to look at the USDA zone info for Santee.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

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

You can plant nigella much earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in Santee 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 nigella and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your nigella may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your nigella indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Santee. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

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 Santee and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santee it frosts late in the year after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your nigella if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santee

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 Santee

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santee.