When to Plant Coleus in Lakeland, FL

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.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant coleus in Lakeland by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

It's a bad idea to plant coleus until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Lakeland is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Lakeland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lakeland is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lakeland you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your coleus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lakeland

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Lakeland

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