One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Northport should be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant trailing portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Trailing Portulaca require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing 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 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Northport you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your trailing 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.