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.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant trailing portulaca is to use the USDA zone info for Malibu.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

You really shouldn't plant trailing portulaca until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Malibu 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your trailing portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Malibu the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Malibu may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Malibu you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Malibu

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Malibu

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