Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in South Portland should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant stevia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant stevia 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your stevia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks 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.

Since the USDA zone info for South Portland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Portland last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your stevia if you have 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.