frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Santolina in South Portland, ME

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening 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 it's the best time to plant santolina by using the USDA zone info for South Portland.


Planting Calendar for Santolina

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

Since santolina are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant santolina 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 santolina and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your santolina may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your santolina indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in South Portland. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Portland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in South Portland it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your santolina in the event of 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.