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

In Gilroy you can figure out when it's possible to plant santolina by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Since santolina do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Gilroy 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 really do well. If you are starting your santolina indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Gilroy. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gilroy is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Gilroy there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your santolina if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gilroy

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 Gilroy

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