When to Plant Chamomile in Santa Barbara, CA

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

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant chamomile is to use the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara.


Planting Calendar for Chamomile

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

Since chamomile do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chamomile
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chamomile
Probably not a good time to plant chamomile

The earliest that you can plant chamomile 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 chamomile and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chamomile may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your chamomile indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Barbara may not be accurate from year to year 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 protect your chamomile if you have a 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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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.