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 nierembergia by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nierembergia

Frost tolerance for nierembergia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant nierembergia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant nierembergia 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 nierembergia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your nierembergia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your nierembergia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Maria is not always accurate and 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 nierembergia 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.