One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Shafter can be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant celery.

Planting Calendar for Celery

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

Celery do ok in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Shafter. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shafter and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Shafter it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your celery in the event of a 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.