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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant foxglove is to refer to the USDA zone info for Portland.

Planting Calendar for Foxglove

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

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

The earliest that you can plant foxglove in Portland 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 foxglove and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your foxglove may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your foxglove indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Portland the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portland and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Portland last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your foxglove in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portland

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 Portland

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