The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant borage is to refer to the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara.

Planting Calendar for Borage

Frost tolerance for borage:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Borage do well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant borage in Santa Barbara 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your borage may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your borage indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Santa Barbara. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Santa Barbara is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Barbara there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your borage in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.