When to Plant Coleus in Northampton, MA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Northampton you can determine when it's a good idea to plant coleus 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.

It's not a good idea to plant coleus until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Northampton 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Northampton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important 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 Northampton and it is different every year. Half of the time in Northampton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your coleus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northampton

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 Northampton

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