When to Plant Coleus in Indianapolis, IN

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant coleus in Indianapolis by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Since coleus are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after all chance of 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 Indianapolis 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. If you wait any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Indianapolis is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Indianapolis last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your coleus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Indianapolis

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 Indianapolis

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