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

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant trailing portulaca by reviewing the USDA zone info for Evanston.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Trailing Portulaca do not do well in cold weather which means that it's 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 Evanston 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 really do well. Starting your trailing portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Evanston. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Evanston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Evanston last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your trailing portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

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 Evanston

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