One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant santolina by checking out the USDA zone info for Laurel.

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 do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Laurel 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. Any later than that and your santolina may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Laurel. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Laurel is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Laurel you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your santolina in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Laurel

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