One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when you can plant lemon grass is to look at the USDA zone info for South Portland.

Planting Calendar for Lemon grass

Frost tolerance for lemon grass:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant lemon grass just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant lemon grass in South Portland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lemon grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lemon grass may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lemon grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for South Portland is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Portland you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lemon grass if you have a surprise 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.