One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant coral bells is to examine the USDA zone info for Olympia Fields.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

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

You can plant coral bells a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Olympia Fields 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 grow to maturity. Starting your coral bells indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Olympia Fields. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Olympia Fields is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Olympia Fields you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your coral bells in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Olympia Fields

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 Olympia Fields

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Olympia Fields.