One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant trailing portulaca is to use the USDA zone info for Valley City.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Since trailing portulaca do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Valley City 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Valley City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Valley City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Valley City you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Valley City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Valley City

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