When to Plant Coleus in Watertown, NY

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant coleus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Watertown.


Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

It's a bad idea to plant coleus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Watertown 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 Watertown the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Watertown is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Watertown it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your coleus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Watertown

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 Watertown

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