The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant lavender is to look at the USDA zone info for Santa Maria.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

Frost tolerance for lavender:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Lavender are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost 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 not always accurate 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 lavender 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.