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.

In Portage you can estimate when it's possible to plant new zealand spinach by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for New Zealand spinach

Frost tolerance for new zealand spinach:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since new zealand spinach are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant new zealand spinach in Portage 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 new zealand spinach and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your new zealand spinach may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your new zealand spinach indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Portage may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portage last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your new zealand spinach in the event of a surprise 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.