One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Portland you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant lantana by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lantana

Frost tolerance for lantana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant lantana until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant lantana 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 lantana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lantana may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your lantana indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Portland. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portland is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Portland there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your lantana in the event of a surprise 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.