One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Baton Rouge you can determine when it's possible to plant red hot pokers by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

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

You can plant red hot pokers quite a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Baton Rouge is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Baton Rouge the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Baton Rouge and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Baton Rouge you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your red hot pokers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Baton Rouge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Baton Rouge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Baton Rouge.