Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant tarragon is to look at the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for Tarragon

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

Tarragon do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Cruz last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your tarragon in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.