One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 can be looked at to determine when you can plant skullcap.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

Frost tolerance for skullcap:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since skullcap require warm weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant skullcap 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your skullcap may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your skullcap indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for New Orleans may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in New Orleans you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your skullcap if you have one of those late frosts.

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.