Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant trailing portulaca is to examine the USDA zone info for Creston.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Trailing Portulaca are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Creston 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 fully mature. If you are starting your trailing portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Creston. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Creston is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Creston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your trailing portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Creston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Creston

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Creston.