When to Plant Coleus in Traverse City, MI

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant coleus in Traverse City can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Coleus

Frost tolerance for coleus: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Coleus are not cold tolerant which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last 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 Traverse City 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 few weeks earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Traverse City is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Traverse City you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your coleus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Traverse City

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 Traverse City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Traverse City.