The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for San Marcos can be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant pansies.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

Pansies are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in San Marcos 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pansies may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pansies indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in San Marcos. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Marcos is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in San Marcos it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your pansies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Marcos

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 San Marcos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Marcos.