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.

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

Planting Calendar for Asparagus

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

Since asparagus are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asparagus 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your asparagus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your asparagus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for South Portland is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in South Portland there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your asparagus if you have a late frost.

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.