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

You will be able to determine when you can plant black eyed susans by looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since black eyed susans do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Santa Barbara 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your black eyed susans indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Santa Barbara. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Barbara is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Barbara you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your black eyed susans in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Barbara

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 Barbara

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