When to Plant Pampas Grass in Santa Fe, NM

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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Santa Fe you should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant pampas grass.

Create beautiful hand-made plants at forever-plants.com

Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

Frost tolerance for pampas grass: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Pampas Grass 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pampas grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pampas grass
Probably not a good time to plant pampas grass

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass in Santa Fe is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pampas grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Santa Fe. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Fe is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Fe last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pampas grass in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Fe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Fe

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