One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant pansies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Portsmouth.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

Frost tolerance for pansies:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Pansies are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Portsmouth 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pansies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Portsmouth. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portsmouth is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portsmouth you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pansies if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

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 Portsmouth

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