One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first opportunity to plant cuphea in Abilene should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant cuphea until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cuphea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Abilene may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Abilene it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cuphea in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.