Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant pearl onions is to use the USDA zone info for Santa Ana.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant pearl onions a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Santa Ana 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pearl onions may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pearl onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Ana the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Ana may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Ana you get a frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to protect your pearl onions if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Ana

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 Santa Ana

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