One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 best time to plant ruby grass in Santa Cruz can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Ruby Grass

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

You can plant ruby grass a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

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.

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 you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your ruby grass 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.