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.

The USDA zone info for Avenal can be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant broccoli.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

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

Since broccoli are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The last month that you can plant broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your broccoli may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your broccoli indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Avenal. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Avenal is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Avenal there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your broccoli if you have a surprise 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.