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.

In Independence you can determine when it's a good idea to plant portulaca by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Independence 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 portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Independence. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Independence may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Independence last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your portulaca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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