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.

It's possible to estimate when it's a good idea to plant rock cress by checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Monica.

Planting Calendar for Rock Cress

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

Since rock cress are very cold tolerant you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant rock cress 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 rock cress and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rock cress may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your rock cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Monica is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Monica there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your rock cress in the event of 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.