In Houston, NOAA’s 30-year climate normals put the last spring frost somewhere between February 4 and March 1. That single fact reshapes the whole question, because Texas runs from USDA zone 6a in the Panhandle to zone 10a in the Rio Grande Valley. On the mild Gulf end, hardy greens, alliums and peas go into open ground now. Farther north, the soil may still be locked up tight.
What goes in the ground in February
The calendar tells you nothing on its own. What matters is soil temperature and where you sit relative to the last frost window, and for the Gulf Coast reference point of Houston, that window runs February 4 through March 1. Early in the month, that means you’re still squarely inside frost risk, not past it. Treat the whole month as pre-clearance for anything a 32-degree night would kill.
That still leaves plenty to plant. Onion sets, shallots and leeks tolerate a hard freeze without blinking. English peas and snap peas actually prefer cool soil and germinate poorly once things heat up. Carrots, beets and radishes can go in as direct-sown seed. Seed potatoes are a Texas February staple in the warmer zones, since the tubers shrug off a light frost while the cool soil helps them size up before summer heat shuts tuber growth down. Hardened-off transplants of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower handle a cold snap far better than a tomato ever will.
What stays out of the ground: tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, cucumbers, anything that dies outright at 32 degrees. Setting those out before the frost window closes, which in Houston can run all the way to March 1 in a cold year, is a bet against your own climate data.
Farther north and west, the picture changes again. In the Panhandle and much of North Texas, February soil is often still too cold to work at all, and nothing goes into open ground. That’s the month for bare-root plantings instead: fruit trees, roses, asparagus crowns, cane berries, all set out dormant while they’re still asleep. Cold frames and low tunnels extend the option for hardy greens even where the open bed is off the table, and forcing rhubarb or chicory indoors gives something to harvest while the garden itself waits.
| Region | Approx. USDA zone | February in the open ground |
|---|---|---|
| Panhandle / North Texas | 6a-7b | Ground often too cold to work; bare-root and dormant plantings only |
| Hill Country / Central Texas | 8a-8b | Hardy greens, alliums, peas possible; frost still a real risk |
| Gulf Coast (Houston reference) | 9a-9b | Inside the Feb 4-March 1 last-frost window; hardy crops only |
| Rio Grande Valley | 9b-10a | Mildest end of the state; widest window for cool-season crops |
What to start under cover
The right way to schedule indoor seed-starting is to work backward from your local last-frost window, not forward from today’s date. Peppers and eggplant generally need eight to ten weeks indoors before they’re ready to go into warm outdoor soil. Tomatoes need six to eight. Cole crops like broccoli and cabbage need about six.
Run the math for the Gulf Coast reference point. If the frost window doesn’t close until March 1 in a cold year, and peppers need eight weeks, the seed-starting date lands in early January, not February. Starting pepper or tomato seed now still works if you’re aiming for a transplant date toward the back half of the frost window, but it’s cutting things closer than gardeners further along the coast might assume.
Farther north, where the frost window runs weeks later than Houston’s, a February start lines up far better with the arithmetic, since the transplant date itself is later.
The two ways this goes wrong are mirror images of each other. Start too early and you end up babysitting leggy, rootbound seedlings in small pots for weeks past their prime, waiting on soil that’s still too cold to receive them. Start too late and the transplant goes out small, then has to race the season’s heat before it’s had time to size up. Neither mistake is fatal on its own, but both cost real yield.
What is ready to pick
Overwintered greens are the main event this month across most of the state. Collards, kale and mustard greens that have sat through a freeze or two are often sweeter for it, the cold converting starches to sugars. Where cabbage and broccoli were set out in fall, heads and side shoots are maturing now in the milder zones. Swiss chard and lettuce held in a cold frame keep producing right through.
Carrots and beets left in the ground over winter can be pulled as needed, and green onions are usually ready for a first cutting. In the Rio Grande Valley and along the coast, citrus harvest continues, with grapefruit and oranges still coming off the tree.
Indoors, sprouts and microgreens fill the gap on a countertop with no outdoor risk at all, ready in a week or two from seed.
This is also the month to walk the storage shelf. Winter squash, potatoes and stored onions all start to show their weak points by late winter. Check for soft spots, sprouting eyes on potatoes, or a squash that’s gone soft at the stem end, and pull those out before they take the rest of the batch with them. One rotting onion in a mesh bag can spread mold to its neighbors within days.
The jobs that matter this month
Dormant pruning tops the list. Peach, plum and pear trees, along with blackberry canes, should be cut back before bud break, and in the warmer zones that break can come surprisingly early. Wait too long and you’re cutting into live wood that’s already pushing growth, which costs the tree energy it needed for fruit.
Order seed and transplants now if you haven’t. Texas has a notoriously short window between the end of frost risk and the arrival of summer heat, and the tomato and pepper varieties bred to set fruit before that heat shuts pollination down tend to sell out early.
Soil work pays off disproportionately this month because the beds are still open. Pull a soil test while there’s time to get results back and amend before spring planting. Turn the compost pile so it’s ready to spread once beds get planted. Clean and sharpen pruners and hoes, since a dull blade tears rather than cuts and invites disease into a fresh wound.
Repair raised beds, fencing and drip lines now, before the rush of spring planting makes every hour count elsewhere. In the milder zones, this is also the last real window to set out bare-root roses, fruit trees and asparagus crowns before they break dormancy on their own schedule instead of yours. Keep frost cloth handy for citrus and tender perennials, since the frost window in the reference city doesn’t close until as late as March 1 in a cold year. And scout brassicas and citrus for aphids and scale, which often overwinter successfully in Texas’s mild spells and are far easier to knock back now than once populations explode with spring growth.
What not to do in February
The classic Texas mistake is trusting a warm afternoon. A run of 70-degree days tempts gardeners into setting out tomato and pepper transplants, but the soil underneath is still cold and another freeze can arrive at any point before the frost window actually closes, as late as March 1 in a cold year on the Gulf Coast. A late freeze after a warm spell doesn’t just kill exposed transplants, it can also scorch citrus or tender perennials that broke dormancy early, thinking spring had arrived.
Pulling frost cloth or citrus wraps off after one mild week is the same mistake in reverse. Keep the covers within reach and put them back the moment the forecast dips again, rather than assuming the risk has passed because the calendar says it should have.
Nitrogen fertilizer applied too early on dormant fruit trees or perennials pushes soft new growth right before a freeze, and that new growth is exactly what gets burned back hardest. Hold off until growth resumes on its own closer to the frost-clear date for your area.
Direct-sowing peas or seed potatoes into cold, waterlogged soil invites rot before germination even has a chance. Wait until a handful of soil crumbles rather than compacts into mud.
Checking this against your own county
A state-wide month is a starting point, not an instruction, and Texas makes that gap wider than most states. The USDA hardiness range alone runs from 6a to 10a across the state, and elevation, latitude and distance from the Gulf move real planting windows by weeks in either direction. A Panhandle garden and a Rio Grande Valley garden are not on the same February at all.
For a planting calendar tuned to your own county, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension (agrilifeextension.tamu.edu) publishes local guidance through its county offices, and that’s the better reference once you know your own frost pattern rather than a single reference city’s.
Common questions
Can you plant tomatoes in Texas in February?
Not into open ground in most of the state. For the Gulf Coast reference point of Houston, the last frost window runs February 4 to March 1, so tomato transplants set out in February risk a killing freeze. Starting seed indoors now can work if you’re timing transplant for the back end of that window.
What vegetables are frost-hardy enough for Texas in February?
Onions, shallots and leeks, English and snap peas, carrots, beets, radishes, seed potatoes, and hardened-off cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower transplants all tolerate a hard freeze that would kill tomatoes or peppers outright.
When is the last frost date in Texas?
It varies by region and isn’t a single date. For the Houston reference station, NOAA’s 1991-2020 climate normals put it between February 4 and March 1. The Panhandle runs later, and the Rio Grande Valley runs earlier; check Texas A&M AgriLife Extension for figures closer to your own county.
What should Panhandle gardeners do differently in February?
Skip open-ground planting if the soil is still too cold to work, and use the month instead for bare-root plantings of fruit trees, roses and asparagus crowns, along with dormant pruning, seed ordering and soil testing while the ground itself isn’t ready.