One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The earliest that you can plant armeria in Santa Maria can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Armeria

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

You can plant armeria a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Maria is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Maria it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your armeria 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.