One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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 possible to determine when to plant begonias by reviewing the USDA zone info for Portales.

Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since begonias require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant begonias 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your begonias indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Portales is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Portales last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your begonias 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.