The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant coral bells is to use the USDA zone info for Chelsea.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

Frost tolerance for coral bells:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant coral bells just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Chelsea is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coral bells and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coral bells may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your coral bells indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Chelsea is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chelsea you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your coral bells in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.