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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant coleus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Franklin.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

Frost tolerance for coleus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since coleus are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Franklin 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 grow to maturity. Starting your coleus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Franklin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Franklin is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your coleus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

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 Franklin

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