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.

A way of getting a good idea when to plant coral bells is to refer to the USDA zone info for Malibu.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

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

Coral Bells do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Malibu 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. Any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your coral bells indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Malibu. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Malibu is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Malibu last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your coral bells in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Malibu

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 Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°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 Malibu

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