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

By using the USDA zone info for Gilroy it's possible to determine when to plant portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Gilroy. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gilroy is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gilroy last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gilroy

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 Gilroy

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