One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Fe it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant painted tongues.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

Frost tolerance for painted tongues:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since painted tongues do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Santa Fe is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your painted tongues may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your painted tongues indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Fe the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Santa Fe is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Fe it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your painted tongues if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Fe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Fe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Fe.