One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Santa Cruz you can estimate when it's possible to plant violets by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Violets

Frost tolerance for violets:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant violets a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant violets in Santa Cruz is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant violets and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your violets may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your violets indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Santa Cruz. 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 it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your violets if you have 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.