Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant flowering maple in Santa Cruz can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Maple

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

It's not a good idea to plant flowering maple until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant flowering maple 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 flowering maple and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering maple may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your flowering maple indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Cruz you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your flowering maple in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.