One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant fuchsia by looking at the USDA zone info for Lake Charles.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

Frost tolerance for fuchsia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since fuchsia do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant fuchsia in Lake Charles is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant fuchsia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fuchsia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your fuchsia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Lake Charles. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Charles is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Charles there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fuchsia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Charles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Charles

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Charles.