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.

You will be able to figure out when to plant shallots by checking out the USDA zone info for Ripon.

Planting Calendar for Shallots

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

You can plant shallots just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant shallots 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 shallots and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your shallots indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ripon is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ripon you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your shallots if you have 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.