One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant polka dot plant is to check out the USDA zone info for Portsmouth.

Planting Calendar for Polka Dot Plant

Frost tolerance for polka dot plant:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since polka dot plant require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant polka dot plant in Portsmouth is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant polka dot plant and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your polka dot plant may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your polka dot plant 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 Portsmouth. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind 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 Portsmouth and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portsmouth you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your polka dot plant in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Portsmouth

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