One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 best time to plant romaine lettuce in Austin should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

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

Since romaine lettuce are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Austin may not be accurate from year to year 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 protect your romaine lettuce in the event of a 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.