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

In Eaton Rapids you can determine when you can plant portulaca by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca are not cold tolerant which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Eaton Rapids 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Eaton Rapids may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Eaton Rapids it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Eaton Rapids

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 Eaton Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Eaton Rapids.