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.

One way of getting a good idea when to plant cilantro is to check out the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

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

Since cilantro do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cilantro 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cilantro indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on 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 just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Barbara last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your cilantro 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.