Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden 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 Santa Clara can be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant mecardonia.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Mecardonia are not cold tolerant which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mecardonia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your mecardonia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Clara is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Santa Clara last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your mecardonia in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.