One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant coleus by checking out the USDA zone info for Zone 6a.

Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

Coleus require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Zone 6a 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 fully mature. If you are starting your coleus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Zone 6a. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6a is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 6a last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your coleus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.