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

A way of estimating when you can plant festuca is to consult the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

You can plant festuca a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Ridgecrest 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ridgecrest there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your festuca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgecrest

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