One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for La Joya you should be able to determine 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 the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant painted tongues until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in La Joya is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your painted tongues indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in La Joya. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Joya is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in La Joya you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your painted tongues in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Joya

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in La Joya

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Joya.