The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant trailing portulaca is to refer to the USDA zone info for Cabot.

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 when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Cabot 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. Any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Cabot. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cabot is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Cabot it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cabot

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Cabot

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