When to Plant Scarlet Pimpernels in Santa Monica, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Monica you should be able to determine when to plant scarlet pimpernels.


Planting Calendar for Scarlet Pimpernels

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

Scarlet Pimpernels do well in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Santa Monica. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Santa Monica is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit 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 prepared to cover your scarlet pimpernels if you have 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.