One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant portulaca by reviewing the USDA zone info for Laurel.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Laurel 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. If you wait any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. 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 Laurel. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Laurel is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Laurel you get a frost after May 15 so always be ready to cover your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Laurel

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