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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant nierembergia is to use the USDA zone info for Shafter.

Planting Calendar for Nierembergia

Frost tolerance for nierembergia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since nierembergia do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant nierembergia 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 nierembergia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your nierembergia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your nierembergia 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shafter last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your nierembergia in the event of 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.