When to Plant Purslane in Phoenix, AZ

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant purslane in Phoenix should be determined by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Purslane tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant purslane
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant purslane
Probably not a good time to plant purslane

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Phoenix is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purslane and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purslane may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your purslane indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Phoenix the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Phoenix and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Phoenix you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your purslane in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Phoenix

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 Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 Phoenix

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