Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant lobelia is to consult the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Monica is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Monica last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your lobelia 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.