Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant liatris in Santa Maria should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Liatris

Frost tolerance for liatris:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant liatris a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

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

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 there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your liatris 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.