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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Portage you should be able to estimate when you can plant cleome.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

Since cleome do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Portage is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Portage there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cleome in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.