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.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Madison can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Since trailing portulaca require warm weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Madison 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. Any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your trailing portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Madison. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Madison is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your trailing portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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