When to Plant Coleus in Westchester, IL

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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Westchester it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant coleus.

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Planting Calendar for Coleus

Frost tolerance for coleus: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since coleus require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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 Westchester is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coleus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your coleus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

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

USDA Zone Info for Westchester

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 Westchester

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