When to Plant Purslane in Mason City, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant purslane in Mason City should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since purslane are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant purslane
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant purslane
Probably not a good time to plant purslane

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

Last Frost Date

In Mason City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mason City is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mason City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your purslane in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mason City

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 Mason City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mason City.