One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Highlands you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant trailing portulaca by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

You really shouldn't plant trailing portulaca until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Highlands 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. If you are starting your trailing portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Highlands the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Highlands may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Highlands you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your trailing portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Highlands

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Highlands

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