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When to Plant Flower-of-an-Hour in Santa Maria, CA

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 getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant flower-of-an-hour is to consult the USDA zone info for Santa Maria.


Planting Calendar for Flower-of-an-Hour

Frost tolerance for flower-of-an-hour: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Flower-of-an-Hour do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant flower-of-an-hour
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant flower-of-an-hour
Probably not a good time to plant flower-of-an-hour

The earliest that you can plant flower-of-an-hour in Santa Maria is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flower-of-an-hour and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flower-of-an-hour may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your flower-of-an-hour indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Maria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Maria and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Maria there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your flower-of-an-hour 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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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.