Right now
18°C / 64°F
Overcast · wind 10 km/h · 88% RH
Soil (6 cm)
17°C / 62°F
Most seeds germinate
Hardiness zone
6a
est. from 10-yr extreme low -22°C
Frost window
Apr 24 – Nov 3
~193 frost-free days · first frost in ~55 days
Sun
06:13 – 19:02
sunrise – sunset today
Moon
Waning Crescent
4% lit · solunar excellent · full 2026-09-26
7-day forecast
America/New_York
Wed
Drizzle
19° / 12°
1.4 mm
Thu
Drizzle
28° / 17°
1.7 mm
Fri
Overcast
24° / 12°
dry
Sat
Clear
24° / 12°
dry
Sun
Drizzle
20° / 15°
1.5 mm
Mon
Fog
28° / 16°
dry
Tue
Drizzle
21° / 13°
3.3 mm
This week
AI field guide · refreshed weeklyPortland Gardening: Early September – Harvest, Plant Fall Crops, Prepare for Frost. Portland, Maine Fishing: Early Fall in Casco Bay & Inland Waters. Fall Foraging in Portland, Maine: September.
Gardening
Portland Gardening: Early September – Harvest, Plant Fall Crops, Prepare for Frost
Sow & harvest now
- Spinach (Bloomsdale Long Standing, Space)
- Arugula (Roquette)
- Lettuce (Winter Density, Buttercrunch)
- Radish (Cherry Belle, French Breakfast)
Fishing
Portland, Maine Fishing: Early Fall in Casco Bay & Inland Waters
What's biting
- Largemouth Bass
- Smallmouth Bass
- Atlantic Mackerel
- Striped Bass
Foraging
Fall Foraging in Portland, Maine: September
In season now
- Wild Grapes (Vitis spp.)
- Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)
- Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
- Wild Mushrooms: Hen of the Woods (Maitake, Grifola frondosa)
Overhead · Portland, Maine
The sky over the garden
The two clocks nothing on the ground can argue with: the length of the day, and the phase of the moon.
The sun
12h 49m of light
Sunrise
06:13
Solar noon
12:38
Sunset
19:02
A month from now the day will be 1h 29m shorter. Enough light for steady growth.
The moon
Waning Crescent
4% lit · waning · day 28 of 29.5
- Next full
- Sep 26 · 17d
- Harvest Moon
- Next new
- Sep 11 · 2d
- Darkest nights
Planting by the moon: Last quarter to new: a resting phase — weed, prune, harvest, turn compost and prepare beds.
Fishing: excellent — feeding peaks in the days either side of new and full, and around moonrise and moonset.
Turn of the season
Fall equinox
Sep 22 · 13 days away
About 55 days to the average first frost (Nov 3).
Next moons
- New MoonSep 11
- First QuarterSep 19
- Full Moon · Harvest MoonSep 26
- Last QuarterOct 4
Right now · Portland, Maine
Forces at work right now
Frost, soil warmth, light, rain and the moon set the pace for the garden, the water and the woods alike. Every reading below comes from this location's own forecast and climate record.
- Quiet right now
Frost
193 frost-free days
Typically Apr 24 to Nov 3 here. Coldest night in the next week: 11.5 °C.
The hard edge of the growing season. Ice inside a leaf ruptures its cells — one night ends a tomato and sweetens a parsnip.
- Working for you
Soil warmth
16.6 °C
Warm enough for beans, corn, squash, cucumber and transplanted tomato and pepper. Roots run hard at this temperature.
Seeds read soil temperature, not the calendar. Six centimetres down is where the decision gets made.
- Quiet right now
Day length
12h 49m
Losing about 3 minutes of daylight a day.
The one thing weather can't change. Plants count photoperiod to decide when to bolt, bulb, flower and go dormant.
- Working for you
Heat units
60 GDD / 7 days
Steady heat. Tomatoes set fruit, corn stretches, and pest generations turn over on schedule.
Growing degree days: the running total of warmth above 10 °C. Crops and insects both run on this clock rather than on dates.
- Worth watching
Rain
7.9 mm / 7 days
7.9 mm across 4 days — short of the ~25 mm a week most beds want. Top up the thirstiest rows.
Sets the pace for everything: germination, fungal fruiting, slug nights, and how a river runs for the next three days.
- Working for you
Pollination
6 of 7 flying days
6 good flying days ahead. Open flowers will get worked — leave a shallow water dish out and hold off on any spray until dusk.
A third of what you eat needs an insect to have visited first. Bees fly on temperature and wind, not on your schedule.
In season now · September
What you can pick right now
29 wild edibles typically ready in September near Portland, Maine. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather — check each one before you go.
FruitAugust – SeptemberBeach plum
Prunus maritima
Low sprawling shrub in the sand, with dusty purple plums about the size of a marble.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
FruitAugust – SeptemberChokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Long drooping clusters of dark red-to-black cherries on a small tree with finely toothed oval leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – SeptemberElderberries
Sambucus canadensis
Flat, heavy clusters of tiny purple-black berries on red-tinged stems, on a shrub with opposite compound leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: David Anderson · CC BY 4.0
NutAugust – SeptemberWild hazelnuts
Corylus americana
Multi-stemmed shrub; nuts in clusters wrapped in ragged leafy husks.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Ilona · CC BY-SA 4.0
Has a dangerous look-alikeMushroomAugust – OctoberGiant puffball
Calvatia gigantea
Smooth white ball, football-sized or larger. Slice it top to bottom: it must be pure white and uniform like a marshmallow, with no gills, no outline of a mushroom, no yellowing.
How to know it & its look-alikes →
MushroomSeptember – NovemberHen of the woods (maitake)
Grifola frondosa
A big grey-brown rosette of overlapping spoon-shaped fronds on a branching white stem, with pores underneath.
How to know it & its look-alikes →
23 more in season here — see the full foraging calendar →
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. They show a typical specimen, not every variation — never identify from a photo alone. Confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager before you eat anything wild.
In the water now · September
What's biting
The sport fish active near Portland, Maine in September — where they hold, how to know one on the line, and the tactic that usually works. Check your licence and the current limits before you go.
FishYear-roundWalleye
Sander vitreus
Olive-gold flanks, a spiny first dorsal, and the big glassy eye that gives it the name and lets it hunt in low light.
Where and how to catch it →
FishMay–OctSmallmouth bass
Micropterus dolomieu
Bronze-brown with vertical bars, red eye, and a jaw that ends level with the eye — not past it.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Joshua Johnson · CC BY 4.0
FishJan–JunNorthern pike
Esox lucius
Long torpedo body, duck-like jaws, light bean-shaped spots on a dark green flank.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Daughter Dad · CC BY 4.0
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 54 species are covered across Canada and the US.
In the garden now · September
Who else is working the garden
The insects and soil life out near Portland, Maine in September. Most of them are on your side — learn the few that aren't before you reach for anything.
PollinatorMay–OctMonarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
Orange with heavy black veins and a white-spotted black border. The caterpillar is banded yellow, white and black.
What it does in the garden →Photo: Christine Young · CC BY 4.0
PollinatorMay–SepRuby-throated hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Tiny, iridescent green above; the male has a black-looking throat that flares ruby in the right light.
What it does in the garden →
PollinatorMar–OctHoney bee
Apis mellifera
Golden-brown, banded, furry thorax, and pollen packed onto the hind legs in visible baskets.
What it does in the garden →
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 54 species are covered across Canada and the US.
Your ecological region
Acadian Forest & Atlantic Coast
Red spruce, sugar maple and yellow birch meet the cold North Atlantic. Fog, long falls and a tidal coastline.
Regional guide →Your hardiness zone
Zone 6a
Estimated from a 10-year average extreme low of -22°C. What grows, what bites and what to forage across your zone.
Zone guide →Get this guide for Portland every week
Frost warnings, what's biting, what's ripening. One email, Sunday evening.