One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first chance to plant anise in Santa Maria should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Anise

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

You can plant anise slightly earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant anise in Santa Maria 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 anise and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your anise may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your anise indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Maria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Maria is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Maria last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to cover your anise in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Maria

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 Maria

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Maria.