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.

The USDA zone info for Valdese can be reviewed to figure out 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.

It's not a good idea to plant portulaca until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Valdese 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Valdese. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valdese is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Valdese it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valdese

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Valdese

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