When to Plant Roses in Santa Monica, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 roses in Santa Monica can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Roses

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

Roses do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant roses
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant roses
Probably not a good time to plant roses

The earliest that you can plant roses 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your roses indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Monica and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Monica you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your roses in the event of one of those late frosts.

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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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.