One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Signal Hill can be read to determine when it's a good idea to plant portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

You should not plant portulaca until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Signal Hill 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 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Signal Hill the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Signal Hill is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Signal Hill last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Signal Hill

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 Signal Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Signal Hill.