One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant iresene is to look at the USDA zone info for Austin.

Planting Calendar for Iresene

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

You really shouldn't plant iresene until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant iresene 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 iresene and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your iresene may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your iresene indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Austin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Austin you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your iresene if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°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.