The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Santa Cruz can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant matricaria.

Planting Calendar for Matricaria

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

You can plant matricaria a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant matricaria 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 matricaria and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your matricaria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your matricaria indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Cruz. It might get as low as 25°F during 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 changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your matricaria in the event of 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.