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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant festuca is to examine the USDA zone info for Calera.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

Frost tolerance for festuca:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Festuca tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Calera 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Calera the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Calera may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Calera you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your festuca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Calera

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 Calera

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