One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In The Dalles you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant coral bells by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

Frost tolerance for coral bells:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant coral bells a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in The Dalles 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in The Dalles. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for The Dalles is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in The Dalles you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your coral bells if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for The Dalles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in The Dalles

You may be interested in your other planting guides for The Dalles.