When to Plant Coral Bells in Shelbyville, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant coral bells in Shelbyville can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier 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 Shelbyville 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. 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. 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 Shelbyville. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelbyville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Shelbyville there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your coral bells if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelbyville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Shelbyville

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