Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when to plant portulaca is to look at the USDA zone info for Trenton.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Trenton 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. Any later than that and 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 Trenton. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Trenton is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Trenton it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Trenton

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 Trenton

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