Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant coral bells is to look at the USDA zone info for Orinda.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Orinda 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coral bells may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your coral bells indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Orinda the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Orinda may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Orinda last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your coral bells if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Orinda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Orinda

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