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When to Plant Rudbeckia in Lake Charles, LA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant rudbeckia is to examine the USDA zone info for Lake Charles.


Planting Calendar for Rudbeckia

Frost tolerance for rudbeckia: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Rudbeckia are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant rudbeckia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant rudbeckia
Probably not a good time to plant rudbeckia

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

The last month that you can plant rudbeckia and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your rudbeckia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your rudbeckia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Lake Charles. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Charles and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Charles last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your rudbeckia 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 Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°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.