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

In Portage you can figure out when you can plant primula by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Primula

Frost tolerance for primula:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Primula do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Portage 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your primula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your primula indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Portage. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Portage may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Portage it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your primula in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Portage

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