Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 it's possible to plant flower-of-an-hour by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flower-of-an-Hour

Frost tolerance for flower-of-an-hour:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since flower-of-an-hour do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flower-of-an-hour in Santa Cruz is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flower-of-an-hour and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your flower-of-an-hour may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your flower-of-an-hour indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your flower-of-an-hour 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.