The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 figure out when you can plant flowering kale.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Kale

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

Since flowering kale do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flowering kale in Shafter is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flowering kale and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your flowering kale may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your flowering kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Shafter. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Shafter is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Shafter it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your flowering kale if you have 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.