The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant painted tongues is to consult the USDA zone info for Odessa.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant painted tongues until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Odessa 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your painted tongues indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Odessa the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Odessa is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Odessa last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your painted tongues if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Odessa

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 Odessa

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