Texas offers a wide and often contradictory environment for gardening, featuring both a long growing season and intense climatic challenges. Successful planting depends entirely on your specific geographic location and the current time of year. Understanding what you can plant now requires a precise assessment of local climate conditions, as the timing is linked to the fluctuating threat of frost and the inevitable onset of extreme summer heat.
Defining Your Texas Planting Region
The necessity of knowing your specific planting window stems from the state’s vast climate differences, which span multiple USDA Hardiness Zones. Texas ranges from Zone 6b in the Panhandle to Zone 10a along the southernmost Gulf Coast. These regional divisions are generalized into North, Central, and South Texas, each dictating planting timing based on average last and first frost dates.
In North Texas, the last spring frost can occur as late as late March or early April, resulting in a shorter growing season. Central Texas often sees its last frost in late February or early March, providing a longer growing window. Gardeners in the mild South and Coastal Texas regions may experience frost-free conditions for most of the year, with last frost dates potentially occurring as early as late January. Determining your specific USDA zone and local average frost dates is the most accurate step to determine planting times, indicating when tender plants can safely be placed outdoors.
Cool-Season Edibles and Herbs
Cool-season crops thrive in the mild winter and early spring temperatures characteristic of most of Texas. These vegetables are planted in late fall for a winter harvest or in the very early spring for a harvest before the summer heat arrives. Popular choices include leafy greens such as spinach, collard greens, and various types of lettuce, which bolt, or go to seed, quickly when soil temperatures rise.
Root vegetables like carrots, beets, and radishes also perform well, as do robust brassicas such as broccoli and cabbage. These crops benefit from the lack of extreme heat during their growth cycle. Planting seeds directly into the garden bed is the preferred method for many cool-season crops, though transplants of broccoli and cabbage can provide a quicker head start.
The cool season is also the ideal time for certain herbs that cannot tolerate the intense summer sun. Cilantro and dill are common cool-season annuals that flourish during this period but quickly become bitter and go to seed once temperatures consistently exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Parsley and chives are also best established during the cooler months, though they may require some afternoon shade to persist as the season warms.
Warm-Season Edibles and Ornamentals
Once the danger of the last spring frost has passed and soil temperatures consistently reach 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, warm-season planting can begin. This long, hot growing period is perfectly suited for heat-loving vegetables that require sustained warmth to mature. High-demand vegetables include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash, all of which should be planted as transplants to maximize their growing time before the extreme heat of mid-summer.
The classic Texas summer crops, such as okra, Southern peas, and sweet potatoes, tolerate and even prefer temperatures well over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. These crops are often best planted directly from seed or, in the case of sweet potatoes, from slips, in the late spring or early summer. Selecting heat-tolerant and disease-resistant varieties is important for success, such as ‘Celebrity’ tomatoes or ‘Clemson Spineless’ okra.
Ornamental planting during the warm season focuses on species that can withstand intense sun and drought conditions once established. Annual flowers like zinnias, petunias, and lantana provide continuous color and are known for their heat tolerance and low maintenance requirements. For more permanent landscape additions, heat-tolerant native shrubs and perennials, such as Blackfoot Daisy or Pride of Barbados, are excellent choices, demonstrating resilience in the face of the Texas summer.
Immediate Steps for Texas Soil Success
Texas soil presents a set of challenges, with heavy, compacted clay and high alkalinity being common issues across much of the state. This dense, “gumbo” clay drains slowly, which can lead to root rot, but then bakes into a hard, cracked surface when dry. The high pH, often exceeding the ideal range of 6.3 to 6.8 for nutrient uptake, can lock up essential micronutrients like iron, leading to plant deficiencies.
The most immediate and effective action before planting is to amend the soil with organic matter, such as compost or aged manure. Working a two to three-inch layer of organic material into the top six to eight inches of planting area significantly improves drainage and aeration, mitigating the clay’s tendency to compact. Organic matter also buffers the soil’s pH and provides a slow-release source of nutrients for beneficial soil microorganisms.
For areas with particularly poor drainage, incorporating materials like expanded shale can further aerate the clay and create long-lasting improvements to the soil structure. Following planting, proper initial watering is necessary to establish strong root systems capable of surviving the heat. This involves deep, infrequent watering that encourages roots to grow downward rather than remaining near the surface.