One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant portulaca is to refer to the USDA zone info for Cave Creek.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

Frost tolerance for portulaca:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since portulaca are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Cave Creek 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 portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Cave Creek. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cave Creek may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Cave Creek last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cave Creek

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Cave Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cave Creek.