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

The USDA zone info for Longwood should be reviewed to estimate when to plant coral bells.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

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

Since coral bells are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Longwood 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 really do well. If you are starting your coral bells indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Longwood. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Longwood is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Longwood you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your coral bells in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longwood

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 Longwood

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