One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant banana in Madera should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Banana

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

Since banana require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Madera 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your banana indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Madera. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madera is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Madera it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your banana in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madera

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Madera

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