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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Festus it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's 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 Festus 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Festus. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Festus is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Festus you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Festus

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 Festus

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