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

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant santolina by referring to the USDA zone info for Avenal.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Santolina are very cold tolerant which means that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Avenal 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 santolina and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your santolina may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Avenal. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Avenal may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Avenal it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your santolina if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Avenal

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 Avenal

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