frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Schizanthus in South Portland, ME

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first opportunity to plant schizanthus in South Portland can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant schizanthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

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

The last month that you can plant schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your schizanthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your schizanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in South Portland. It might get as low as -15°F during 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in South Portland there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your schizanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.