Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Sussex you can figure out when it's the best time to plant coral bells by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Sussex 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coral bells may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your coral bells indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Sussex. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sussex is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sussex you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your coral bells if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sussex

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 Sussex

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