One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant portulaca is to look at the USDA zone info for Red Oak.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Red Oak. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Red Oak is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Red Oak last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Red Oak

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 Red Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Oak.