One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 USDA zone info for Brainerd should be used to determine when it's the best time to plant portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca require warm weather which tells us that it is important 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 Brainerd is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 fully mature. 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Brainerd. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Brainerd is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Brainerd there is a last frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brainerd

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Brainerd

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