Austin, Texas, is in USDA Hardiness Zone 8.It's important to plant vegetable seeds or transplants at the right time to get the most out of your garden. Central Texas is a unique region with a particular climate, and it's important to choose plants that are adapted to this climate to create a successful landscape. If you choose a fruit tree with very high temperatures (such as one that would be fine in Dallas with about 1000 cold hours), but you live in Austin and may only get 400 to 600 hours of cold, you may end up without any fruit. If you're looking for some ideas for plants that are well suited to your garden, here's a list of common plants used in gardening that will thrive in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
The geology of Texas is fascinating and if you haven't done your homework on the geological history of Texas, I encourage you to, it's quite impressive. I had a hard time finding a decent cold hour map, so I'll cheat and tell them that those in Austin have between 400 and 600 cold hours, if they're farther north of Austin they're 600 to 800 and farther south, it's between 200 and 400, which is where their citrus fruits will grow best. One way to determine which plants will thrive in Central Texas is to understand the USDA hardiness zones. What that means for the Austin gardener is that it's really hot and it seems to get hotter every year.
If you are in an area where you have a greater number of cold hours and plant one destined for low cold hours, this will cause it to bear fruit prematurely and you will lose your fruits with the next frost.
