One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 coleus in Carmel can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant coleus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Carmel 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coleus may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your coleus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Carmel. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Carmel and it is different every year. Half of the time in Carmel you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your coleus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carmel

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 Carmel

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