One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 Ripon can be reffered to in order to estimate when you can plant santolina.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Santolina can survive in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Ripon 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your santolina may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ripon. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ripon is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ripon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your santolina if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ripon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ripon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ripon.