One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant fuchsia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Portland.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

Frost tolerance for fuchsia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since fuchsia require warm weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant fuchsia in Portland 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 fuchsia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fuchsia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your fuchsia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Portland. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portland is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Portland you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your fuchsia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portland

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 Portland

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