One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Santa Barbara you can determine when it's possible to plant dianthus by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Since dianthus are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus 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 dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your dianthus 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.