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 earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Abilene should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant calliopsis until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Abilene 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Abilene the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Abilene is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Abilene last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to cover your calliopsis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Abilene

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Abilene

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