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.

The first opportunity to plant coleus in Clearlake can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Coleus do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Clearlake 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coleus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your coleus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Clearlake the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Clearlake is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Clearlake you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your coleus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clearlake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Clearlake

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