The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 determine when it's the best time to plant salvia by using the USDA zone info for Portland.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

Frost tolerance for salvia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant salvia a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Portland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant salvia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salvia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Portland. In the coldest months of winter you should 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 you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your salvia if you have 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.