The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant tree onions is to check out the USDA zone info for South Portland.

Planting Calendar for Tree onions

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

Since tree onions do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant tree onions 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 tree onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tree onions may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your tree onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few 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.

Since the USDA zone info for South Portland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in South Portland last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your tree onions if you have a 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.