One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 chance to plant coral bells in El Centro can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

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

Since coral bells are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in El Centro 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 coral bells and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your coral bells indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In El Centro the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for El Centro is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in El Centro you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to protect your coral bells in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Centro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Centro

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Centro.