One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Needles it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant ornamental grasses.

Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

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

Ornamental Grasses do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Needles 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Needles is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Needles you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your ornamental grasses in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Needles

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 Needles

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