The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Santa Monica should be looked at to figure out when to plant chard.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Santa Monica 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chard may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Santa Monica. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Monica is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Monica you get a frost after January 31 so always be ready to cover your chard if you have a surprise late frost.

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.