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.

The USDA zone info for Santa Cruz can be used to determine when to plant polka dot plant.

Planting Calendar for Polka Dot Plant

Frost tolerance for polka dot plant:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant polka dot plant until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your polka dot plant 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.