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.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Round Lake should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Round Lake 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. If you wait any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Round Lake and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Round Lake there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Round Lake

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 Round Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Round Lake.