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 first opportunity to plant tropical water plants in Santa Cruz can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Tropical Water Plants are not cold tolerant which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Santa Cruz. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your tropical water plants 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.