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

In Santa Maria you can determine when it's possible to plant chrysanthemum by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemum

Frost tolerance for chrysanthemum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since chrysanthemum do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemum 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 chrysanthemum and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chrysanthemum may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chrysanthemum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Maria is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Maria last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your chrysanthemum 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.