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.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant creeping zinnia is to examine the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Zinnia

Frost tolerance for creeping zinnia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant creeping zinnia a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant creeping zinnia 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 creeping zinnia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your creeping zinnia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your creeping zinnia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Monica the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Monica and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Monica there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your creeping zinnia if you have a 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.