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.

You will be able to determine when to plant borage by referring to the USDA zone info for Newport.

Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Since borage do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Newport. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Newport and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Newport last frost occurs after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your borage in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport

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