When to Plant Coreopsis in Portland, ME

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening 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 estimating when it's possible to plant coreopsis is to refer to the USDA zone info for Portland.


Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Coreopsis tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant coreopsis
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant coreopsis
Probably not a good time to plant coreopsis

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Portland 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 coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your coreopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your coreopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portland and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Portland you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your coreopsis in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.