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

The USDA zone info for Jefferson City can be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant trailing portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

It's not a good idea to plant trailing portulaca until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Jefferson City 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your trailing portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Jefferson City. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Jefferson City and it is different every year. Half of the time in Jefferson City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your trailing portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Jefferson City

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 Jefferson City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Jefferson City.