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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant coreopsis by looking at the USDA zone info for Abilene.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since coreopsis are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Abilene is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Abilene last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your coreopsis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Abilene

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 Abilene

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