One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Mason City you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant napa valley fern by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Napa Valley Fern

Frost tolerance for napa valley fern:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant napa valley fern until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant napa valley fern in Mason City is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant napa valley fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your napa valley fern may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your napa valley fern indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Mason City. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mason City is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mason City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your napa valley fern if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mason City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Mason City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mason City.