One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Fort Atkinson it's a good idea to figure out when to plant coleus.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

Frost tolerance for coleus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant coleus until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Fort Atkinson 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Atkinson. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Atkinson and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Fort Atkinson it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your coleus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Atkinson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Fort Atkinson

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Atkinson.