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.

The first opportunity to plant petunias in Santa Ana can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

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

Since petunias are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant petunias 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your petunias 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. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Ana is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Ana last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your petunias in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.