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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant arabis is to examine the USDA zone info for Santa Maria.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since arabis are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Santa Maria 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arabis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Maria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Maria and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Maria you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your arabis if you have a surprise 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.