One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant santolina is to examine the USDA zone info for Southgate.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

You can plant santolina earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Southgate 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. If you are starting your santolina indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Southgate the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Southgate may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Southgate you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your santolina in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Southgate

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 Southgate

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