One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Cruz you can figure out when you can plant celosia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

Frost tolerance for celosia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since celosia are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant celosia in Santa Cruz 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your celosia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your celosia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Cruz. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your celosia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

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 Cruz

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