One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In El Paso you can determine when it's a good idea to plant calliopsis by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

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

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in El Paso 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in El Paso. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Paso and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in El Paso it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your calliopsis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Paso

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 El Paso

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Paso.