One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant achimenes by looking at the USDA zone info for Portales.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant achimenes until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Portales 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Portales the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portales and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Portales it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your achimenes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portales

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Portales

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