One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Santa Monica it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant celosia.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

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

Celosia are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Santa Monica the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Santa Monica is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Monica you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your celosia in the event of 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.