When to Plant Portulaca in Paterson, NJ

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant portulaca in Paterson can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant portulaca
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant portulaca
Probably not a good time to plant portulaca

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Paterson 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. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Paterson. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Paterson and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Paterson you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your portulaca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Paterson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Paterson

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