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.

The first opportunity to plant purple bell vines in Santa Cruz should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Bell Vines

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

Since purple bell vines are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant purple bell vines 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 purple bell vines and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your purple bell vines may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your purple bell vines 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. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember 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 last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your purple bell vines 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.