When to Plant Bells of Ireland in Portland, ME

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant bells of ireland in Portland can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Bells of Ireland

Frost tolerance for bells of ireland: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant bells of ireland slightly earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bells of ireland
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bells of ireland
Probably not a good time to plant bells of ireland

The earliest that you can plant bells of ireland in Portland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bells of ireland and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your bells of ireland may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bells of ireland indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last 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.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portland and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portland last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bells of ireland 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.