The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant trailing portulaca in Gulf Shores by reviewing 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 when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant trailing portulaca until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Gulf Shores is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. If you wait any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Gulf Shores. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gulf Shores may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gulf Shores last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your trailing portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gulf Shores

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gulf Shores

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Gulf Shores.