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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant flax is to examine the USDA zone info for Houston.

Planting Calendar for Flax

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

You can plant flax just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant flax and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your flax may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your flax indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Houston. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Houston and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Houston there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your flax if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Houston

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Houston.