One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Elsa you can determine when it's a good idea to plant strawberries by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Strawberries

Frost tolerance for strawberries:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Strawberries tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Elsa is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your strawberries indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Elsa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elsa and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elsa there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your strawberries in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elsa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Elsa

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