One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant salsify in Portage by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salsify

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

Salsify do well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Portage. 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. Since half of the time in Portage last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your salsify 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.