One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for El Dorado it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant santolina.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Since santolina do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in El Dorado 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 little bit earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in El Dorado. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Dorado and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in El Dorado last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your santolina in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Dorado

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in El Dorado

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Dorado.