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.

A way of making a decision about when you can plant salsify is to use the USDA zone info for Ripon.

Planting Calendar for Salsify

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

Salsify do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant salsify in Ripon 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 salsify and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your salsify may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your salsify indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Ripon. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ripon may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ripon it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your salsify in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ripon

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 Ripon

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