One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Austin should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since hamelia do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Austin 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 hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hamelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hamelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Austin. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Austin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Austin you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your hamelia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

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 Austin

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