One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant coral bells by looking at the USDA zone info for Austin.

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 well in mild 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 Austin 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. Any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your coral bells indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Austin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Keep in mind 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 Austin and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Austin you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your coral bells if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

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 Austin

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