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.

In Cary you can figure out when it's possible to plant trailing portulaca by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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.

Since trailing portulaca are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Cary 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cary is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cary last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your trailing portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cary

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 Cary

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