One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant santolina by checking out the USDA zone info for Zone 5b.

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 very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant santolina in Zone 5b 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 fully mature. Starting your santolina indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Zone 5b. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 5b and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5b there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your santolina if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5b.