One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 you can plant portulaca by reviewing the USDA zone info for Northport.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Northport 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. Any later than that and 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

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Northport. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Northport is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Northport it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Northport

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