One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 should be able to estimate when you can plant lovage by using the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for Lovage

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

Lovage are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lovage 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 lovage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lovage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lovage indoors.

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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your lovage 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.