The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 possible to plant basil is to consult the USDA zone info for Santa Maria.

Planting Calendar for Basil

Frost tolerance for basil:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Basil require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant basil in Santa Maria 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 basil and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your basil may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your basil indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Santa Maria. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Maria may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Maria there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your basil in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.