Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant coleus is to check out the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Coleus require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Rancho Santa Margarita 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. If you wait any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Rancho Santa Margarita. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rancho Santa Margarita it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your coleus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rancho Santa Margarita

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 Rancho Santa Margarita

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rancho Santa Margarita.