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

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant stocks by using the USDA zone info for Portsmouth.

Planting Calendar for Stocks

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

Stocks do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Portsmouth 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 stocks and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your stocks may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your stocks indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Portsmouth. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Portsmouth is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Portsmouth you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your stocks if you have a surprise 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.