One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Newport you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant coral bells by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

Frost tolerance for coral bells:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Coral Bells do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Newport is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coral bells and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your coral bells indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Newport. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Newport is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your coral bells if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport

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