One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Duarte you should be able to estimate when you can plant portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca require warm weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Duarte 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 portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Duarte. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Duarte is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Duarte there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your portulaca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Duarte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Duarte

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