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.

A way of estimating when 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.

It's not a good idea to plant coleus until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Franklin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Franklin may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Franklin you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your coleus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°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.