One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's possible to plant sanvitalia in Santa Cruz by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sanvitalia

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

Sanvitalia do well in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant sanvitalia 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 sanvitalia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sanvitalia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sanvitalia 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Cruz there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your sanvitalia in the event of 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.