Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Austin can be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant calendula.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

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

Calendula are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant calendula 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 calendula and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calendula may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your calendula indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Austin. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Austin is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Austin there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your calendula 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.