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 figure out when it's a good idea to plant coleus by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

Frost tolerance for coleus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since coleus require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus 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 coleus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

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.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Maria is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Maria you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your coleus in the event of 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.