One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The best time to plant portulaca in Cambridge should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Cambridge 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cambridge the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cambridge and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cambridge it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cambridge

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 Cambridge

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