One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Ionia you can determine when it's the best time to plant purslane by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant purslane just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Ionia is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purslane and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purslane may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your purslane indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ionia may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ionia it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your purslane in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ionia

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 Ionia

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