One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lockhart can be read to estimate when it's the best time to plant sunflowers.

Planting Calendar for Sunflowers

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

It's a bad idea to plant sunflowers until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sunflowers in Lockhart 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 sunflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sunflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your sunflowers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lockhart the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lockhart and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lockhart last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to cover your sunflowers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lockhart

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 Lockhart

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