When to Plant Portulaca in Auburn, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant portulaca is to consult the USDA zone info for Auburn.


Planting Calendar for Portulaca

Frost tolerance for portulaca: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Portulaca are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
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A good time to plant portulaca
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant portulaca
Probably not a good time to plant portulaca

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Auburn 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 portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Auburn the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Auburn is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Auburn last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Auburn

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Auburn.