When to Plant Hemerocallis in Santa Cruz, CA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant hemerocallis by checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.


Planting Calendar for Hemerocallis

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

Since hemerocallis do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant hemerocallis
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant hemerocallis
Probably not a good time to plant hemerocallis

The earliest that you can plant hemerocallis 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 hemerocallis and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your hemerocallis may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your hemerocallis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz and it is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your hemerocallis if you have 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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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.