When to Plant Foxglove in South Portland, ME

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant foxglove in South Portland by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Foxglove

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

Foxglove do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In South Portland the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for South Portland and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in South Portland it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your foxglove 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.