Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant caladium by reviewing the USDA zone info for Portage.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

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

You should not plant caladium until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Portage 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your caladium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Portage. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portage and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Portage it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your caladium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Portage

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