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.

One way of determining when you can plant santolina is to look at the USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Santolina are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Cedar Rapids 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cedar Rapids the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cedar Rapids you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your santolina in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Cedar Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Rapids.