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 checking out the USDA zone info for Berkeley it's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant fountain grass.

Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

Frost tolerance for fountain grass:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since fountain grass are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant fountain grass in Berkeley 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 fountain grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fountain grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your fountain grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Berkeley the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Berkeley and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Berkeley you get a frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to protect your fountain grass if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Berkeley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkeley

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