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When to Plant Red Hot Pokers in South Portland, ME

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant red hot pokers in South Portland should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

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

Since red hot pokers are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant red hot pokers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant red hot pokers
Probably not a good time to plant red hot pokers

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your red hot pokers may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of 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.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for South Portland and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in South Portland you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your red hot pokers 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.