Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Lake Charles you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant shallots.

Planting Calendar for Shallots

Frost tolerance for shallots:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Shallots tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant shallots in Lake Charles 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 shallots and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your shallots 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. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Charles is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Charles last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your shallots in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.