One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant portulaca by looking at the USDA zone info for Winthrop Harbor.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

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

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Winthrop Harbor 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Winthrop Harbor. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winthrop Harbor may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Winthrop Harbor last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winthrop Harbor

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 Winthrop Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winthrop Harbor.