One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant coleus by reviewing the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

You really shouldn't plant coleus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Alexandria is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. If you wait any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Alexandria. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alexandria and it is different every year. Half of the time in Alexandria there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your coleus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

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 Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 Alexandria

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