One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant celosia in New Orleans can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

Frost tolerance for celosia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant celosia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant celosia in New Orleans 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celosia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your celosia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Orleans the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for New Orleans is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your celosia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.