One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 common way of estimating when it's possible to plant xerianthemum is to use the USDA zone info for Rockdale.

Planting Calendar for Xerianthemum

Frost tolerance for xerianthemum:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since xerianthemum are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant xerianthemum in Rockdale 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 xerianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your xerianthemum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your xerianthemum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rockdale may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rockdale you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your xerianthemum if you have 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.