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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Newport you should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant primula.

Planting Calendar for Primula

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

Primula are very cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant primula 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your primula indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Newport may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your primula in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Newport

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