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.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant napa valley fern is to consult the USDA zone info for Zone 6a.

Planting Calendar for Napa Valley Fern

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

You should not plant napa valley fern until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant napa valley fern in Zone 6a 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 really do well. Starting your napa valley fern indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Zone 6a. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6a is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 6a it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your napa valley fern if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.