One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Modesto you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant napa valley fern by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Napa Valley Fern

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

You should not plant napa valley fern until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant napa valley fern in Modesto 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 napa valley fern and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your napa valley fern may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your napa valley fern indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Modesto. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Modesto is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Modesto you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your napa valley fern in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Modesto

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 Modesto

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