One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of determining when it's the best time to plant portulaca is to use the USDA zone info for West Springfield.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in West Springfield 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in West Springfield. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for West Springfield is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in West Springfield you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Springfield

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 West Springfield

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