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.

You should be able to estimate when you can plant achillea by checking out the USDA zone info for South Portland.

Planting Calendar for Achillea

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

Since achillea are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant achillea in South 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 achillea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your achillea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your achillea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in South Portland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for South Portland is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in South Portland you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your achillea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South 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 South Portland

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