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 figuring out when it's the best time to plant portulaca is to check out the USDA zone info for Espanola.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Espanola 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Espanola. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Espanola may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Espanola you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Espanola

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 Espanola

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