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.

A common way of determining when you can plant coral bells is to use the USDA zone info for Jersey Shore.

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 ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Jersey Shore 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 grow to maturity. Starting your coral bells indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Jersey Shore. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Jersey Shore is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Jersey Shore you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your coral bells in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Jersey Shore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Jersey Shore

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Jersey Shore.