One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant strawberries is to look at the USDA zone info for Opelousas.

Planting Calendar for Strawberries

Frost tolerance for strawberries:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Strawberries tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Opelousas 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your strawberries indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Opelousas the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Opelousas and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Opelousas last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your strawberries in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Opelousas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Opelousas

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Opelousas.