Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when it's the best time to plant portulaca by checking out the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

You really shouldn't plant portulaca until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Santa Cruz 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. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Cruz

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 Santa Cruz

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