One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Shafter can be looked at to determine when it's the best time to plant bidens.

Planting Calendar for Bidens

Frost tolerance for bidens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Bidens do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Shafter the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shafter is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Shafter you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your bidens in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shafter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Shafter

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