One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant radicchio is to use the USDA zone info for Abilene.

Planting Calendar for Radicchio

Frost tolerance for radicchio:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Radicchio are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant radicchio in Abilene is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant radicchio and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your radicchio may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your radicchio indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Abilene. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Abilene and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Abilene last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your radicchio 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.