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

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant coral bells is to check out the USDA zone info for Zone 5a.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Zone 5a 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. If you wait any later than that and your coral bells may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your coral bells indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 5a and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5a it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your coral bells in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

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 Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.