When to Plant Coral Bells in Geneva, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Geneva should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea 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.

Coral Bells tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant coral bells
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant coral bells
Probably not a good time to plant coral bells

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Geneva 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 coral bells and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your coral bells indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Geneva the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Geneva is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Geneva it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your coral bells if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Geneva

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