Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when you can plant lemon grass is to look at the USDA zone info for Shafter.

Planting Calendar for Lemon grass

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

You can plant lemon grass just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lemon grass 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 lemon grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lemon grass may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lemon grass indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Shafter. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Shafter is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shafter it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lemon grass if you have one of those late frosts.

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.