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 first opportunity to plant arctotis in Austin should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

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

Since arctotis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arctotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arctotis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Austin the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Austin is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Austin last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your arctotis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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