Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Abilene can be used to figure out when it's the best time to plant painted tongues.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

Frost tolerance for painted tongues:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since painted tongues require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Abilene. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Abilene and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Abilene there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your painted tongues if you have a 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.