Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mercer Island should be reviewed to determine when you can plant fuchsia.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

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

It's not a good idea to plant fuchsia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant fuchsia in Mercer Island 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 fuchsia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fuchsia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fuchsia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Mercer Island. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mercer Island is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mercer Island you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fuchsia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mercer Island

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mercer Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mercer Island.