One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Salem should be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time 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.

You can plant primula a lot earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Salem 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your primula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your primula indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Salem. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your primula if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Salem

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