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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Joliet it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant napa valley fern.

Planting Calendar for Napa Valley Fern

Frost tolerance for napa valley fern:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant napa valley fern until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant napa valley fern in Joliet 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. If you wait any later than that and your napa valley fern may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your napa valley fern indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Joliet. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Joliet and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Joliet there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your napa valley fern in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Joliet

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Joliet.