One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant erysimum is to refer to the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for Erysimum

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

You can plant erysimum a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant erysimum in Santa Cruz 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 erysimum and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your erysimum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your erysimum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Santa Cruz. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your erysimum if you have a 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.