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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Natchitoches it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant ruby grass.

Planting Calendar for Ruby Grass

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

Ruby Grass can survive in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant ruby grass in Natchitoches 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 ruby grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your ruby grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your ruby grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Natchitoches. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Natchitoches may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Natchitoches it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your ruby grass in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Natchitoches

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 Natchitoches

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Natchitoches.