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.

You will be able to estimate when you can plant caladium by referring to the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant caladium until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Santa Monica 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Santa Monica. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Monica is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Monica there is a last frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your caladium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Monica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Monica

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Monica.