One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 can determine when it's a good idea to plant four o' clock in Santa Cruz by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since four o' clock require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Cruz. 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 an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to cover your four o' clock 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.