One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Santa Barbara you can estimate when it's possible to plant festuca by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Festuca are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your festuca 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. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in 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 is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your festuca 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 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.