One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant trailing portulaca by referring to the USDA zone info for Columbia.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

Frost tolerance for trailing portulaca:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since trailing portulaca are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Columbia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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