When to Plant Coleus in Los Angeles, CA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Los Angeles should be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant coleus.


Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Since coleus require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant coleus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant coleus
Probably not a good time to plant coleus

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Los Angeles 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 coleus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your coleus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Los Angeles. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Los Angeles is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Los Angeles last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your coleus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Angeles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Los Angeles

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Angeles.