One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of determining when to plant coral bells is to look at the USDA zone info for Ishpeming.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

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

Since coral bells are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Ishpeming is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Ishpeming. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Ishpeming is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ishpeming there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to cover your coral bells if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ishpeming

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ishpeming

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