One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Santa Monica can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Coneflower

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

Since purple coneflower do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower 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 purple coneflower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your purple coneflower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your purple coneflower 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 can 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 not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Monica last frost occurs after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to protect your purple coneflower 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.