One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first chance to plant onions in Austin should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Onions

Frost tolerance for onions:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Onions can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant onions 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Austin and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Austin there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your onions 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.