When to Plant Coral Bells in Ocean City, NJ

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

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Ocean City it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant coral bells.


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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant coral bells
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant coral bells
Probably not a good time to plant coral bells

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Ocean City is February. However, you really should wait until March 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 September. Any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your coral bells indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ocean City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ocean City and it is different every year. Half of the time in Ocean City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your coral bells if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ocean City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Ocean City

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