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

The first chance to plant flax in New Orleans should be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flax

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

Since flax are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for New Orleans is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in New Orleans you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your flax in the event of a surprise 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.