Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Cambridge you can estimate when it's the best time to plant coleus 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.

Since coleus require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Cambridge is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Starting your coleus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cambridge the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cambridge is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cambridge last frost occurs after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your coleus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cambridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Cambridge

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