Updated USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map: Can Austin Start Planting Sooner?

Planting Season Advances with Changes in Climate

As March greets Central Texas, the colorful spectacle of budding redbuds, blossoming Mexican plum trees, and crowning bearded irises celebrates the advent of the local planting season. Inspired by this natural uprising of new life, local gardeners are primed to roll up their sleeves and tackle their gardens, ready to plant new perennials and woody plants. However, an updated plant hardiness zone map announced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) presents a crucial question: Does this update impact Central Texas gardening?

The Updated USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

In November, the USDA announced its plant hardiness zone map’s update, a crucial reference for an estimated 80 million gardeners and growers annually. Interestingly, the agency has switched the Austin area from half-zone 8B to another, 9A, linked directly to the average annual extreme minimum temperatures.

While this shift might seem surprising given the hard freezes of the past three winters, Mark Gibbs, co-founder and sales manager of The Great Outdoors Nursery, points out that our winters are becoming shorter. Notably, this does not eliminate winter occurrence, but it can lead to extremes when it reaches Central Texas.

What Does This Change Mean for Austin?

Essentially, the changing climate simultaneously shortens winters and incites extreme winter events. This reclassification would align Austin more closely with San Antonio and Greater Houston in Zone 9A, while Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso remain in Zone 8B. Being situated near the border between Zones 8B and 9A, the change might not be obvious to many Austin gardeners but should motivate an earlier start to planting perennials.

Preparing to Plant

Led by Gibbs’s insights, local gardeners can consider several plants as ideal candidates for the advancing planting season. The list includes foreground-friendly Skullcap, the mid-tier Jerusalem Sage, the quickly flowering Black and Blue Salvia, the red-flowered Cedar Sage, and the ornamental vines of Bougainvillea. All of these plants are expected to thrive in the new environmental conditions.

Key Takeaways

In conclusion, the USDA’s plant hardiness zone map update presents a new gardening landscape for Central Texans. Early prep and thoughtful implementation of planting strategies are vital for adapting to emerging conditions induced by climate change. Austin gardeners, equipped with this knowledge, can now start planting sooner, effectively expanding the yields of their gardening efforts.