The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant salvia by looking at the USDA zone info for Austin.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

Frost tolerance for salvia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Salvia tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Austin and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Austin it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your salvia 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.