One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant cleome is to use the USDA zone info for Lufkin.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

Cleome require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Lufkin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lufkin 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 Lufkin last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your cleome in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lufkin

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 Lufkin

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