One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for South Houston can be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant thyme.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

Frost tolerance for thyme:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Thyme can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in South Houston is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant thyme and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your thyme may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in South Houston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for South Houston and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in South Houston it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to cover your thyme if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South Houston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in South Houston

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Houston.