One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant stevia in New Orleans by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

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

You really shouldn't plant stevia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant stevia 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your stevia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your stevia 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.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for New Orleans may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in New Orleans it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your stevia 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.