One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when to plant portulaca is to examine the USDA zone info for Paducah.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Paducah 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Paducah. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Paducah is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Paducah you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your portulaca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Paducah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Paducah

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