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

In Santa Cruz you can figure out when you can plant purslane by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant purslane slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Santa Cruz 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 purslane and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your purslane may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your purslane indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Cruz the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Santa Cruz is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Cruz there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your purslane 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.