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.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Shasta Lake should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Shasta Lake 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. Any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Shasta Lake. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shasta Lake is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Shasta Lake you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shasta Lake

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 Shasta Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Shasta Lake.