One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara you will be able to determine when you can plant celosia.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

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

Since celosia are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant celosia 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celosia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your celosia 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.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Barbara is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara there is a last frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your celosia 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.