One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant impatiens is to refer to the USDA zone info for New Orleans.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since impatiens require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant impatiens 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 impatiens and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your impatiens may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your impatiens indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in New Orleans. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for New Orleans is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your impatiens if you have 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.