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

In Rockdale you can determine when it's the best time to plant phlox by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Since phlox are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rockdale is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rockdale you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your phlox in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockdale

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 Rockdale

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