One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant portulaca is to examine the USDA zone info for West Frankfort.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

You can not plant portulaca until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in West Frankfort 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 really do well. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Frankfort the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Frankfort and it is different every year. Since half of the time in West Frankfort you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Frankfort

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in West Frankfort

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Frankfort.