One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You should be able to estimate when you can plant nicotiana by looking at the USDA zone info for Laurel.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

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

You can not plant nicotiana until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana in Laurel is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your nicotiana may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your nicotiana indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Laurel the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Laurel and it is different every year. Half of the time in Laurel last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your nicotiana if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Laurel

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