When to Plant Coreopsis in Tacoma, WA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Tacoma should be used to determine when it's the best time to plant coreopsis.


Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

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

Since coreopsis are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant coreopsis
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant coreopsis
Probably not a good time to plant coreopsis

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Tacoma 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 coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your coreopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your coreopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Tacoma the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tacoma is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Tacoma last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your coreopsis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Tacoma

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 Low15°F
Highest Expected Low20°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 Tacoma

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