One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's the best time to plant regal geranium is to check out the USDA zone info for Portage.

Planting Calendar for Regal Geranium

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

Regal Geranium tend to make it in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Portage the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portage is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary 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 prepared to protect your regal geranium 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.