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.

In Chelsea you can determine when it's a good idea to plant coleus by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Since coleus require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Chelsea 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 coleus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Chelsea. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Chelsea is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Chelsea you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your coleus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

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 Chelsea

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