One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Avenal it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant caladium.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since caladium require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Avenal is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant caladium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your caladium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Avenal. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Avenal is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Avenal last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your caladium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Avenal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Avenal

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