One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant nicotiana by looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Clara.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

Frost tolerance for nicotiana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant nicotiana until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana in Santa Clara is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your nicotiana may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your nicotiana indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Clara the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Clara is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Clara you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your nicotiana in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Clara

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Clara

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Clara.