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

In Portland you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant lavender by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

Lavender are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Portland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portland and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portland it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lavender in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.