One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 santolina in Columbus should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Santolina tend to make it in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Columbus 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 santolina and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your santolina may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Columbus the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Columbus is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Columbus there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your santolina in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbus

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Columbus.