One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for New Orleans should be used to figure out when to plant dallas fern.

Planting Calendar for Dallas Fern

Frost tolerance for dallas fern:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's a bad idea to plant dallas fern until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for New Orleans is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your dallas fern 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.