One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 first chance to plant skullcap in Shafter should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

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

Skullcap are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shafter and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Shafter there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your skullcap 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.