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

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant new zealand spinach is to consult the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for New Zealand spinach

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

Since new zealand spinach are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant new zealand spinach 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 new zealand spinach and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your new zealand spinach may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your new zealand spinach indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Cruz. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your new zealand spinach if you have a surprise 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.