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When to Plant Trailing Portulaca in Santa Barbara, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Santa Barbara you can figure out when you can plant trailing portulaca by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Trailing Portulaca do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Santa Barbara 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Barbara the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Barbara and it is different every year. Half of the time in Santa Barbara you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Barbara

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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 Santa Barbara

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Barbara.