One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Santa Clara you can figure out when it's the best time to plant alternanthera by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alternanthera

Frost tolerance for alternanthera:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You should not plant alternanthera until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant alternanthera in Santa Clara is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant alternanthera and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your alternanthera may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your alternanthera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Santa Clara. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Clara and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Santa Clara it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your alternanthera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Clara

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 Santa Clara

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