One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for South Lake Tahoe it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant coleus.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Coleus are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in South Lake Tahoe is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coleus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coleus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in South Lake Tahoe. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Lake Tahoe may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Lake Tahoe last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your coleus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South Lake Tahoe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in South Lake Tahoe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Lake Tahoe.