One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 earliest that you can plant lavender in Portage should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

Frost tolerance for lavender:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since lavender do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lavender in Portage 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 lavender and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lavender may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lavender indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Portage. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Portage is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Portage last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your lavender if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Portage

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Portage.