Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant santolina is to check out the USDA zone info for Gig Harbor.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Since santolina are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Gig Harbor 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 little bit earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gig Harbor and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Gig Harbor you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your santolina if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gig Harbor

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 Gig Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gig Harbor.