One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Colorado Springs should be used to determine when it's the best time to plant trailing portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant trailing portulaca until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Colorado Springs is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 August. Any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your trailing portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Colorado Springs. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Colorado Springs and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Colorado Springs you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Colorado Springs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Colorado Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Colorado Springs.