One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Santa Barbara should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Primula

Frost tolerance for primula:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Primula do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Santa Barbara. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your primula 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.