One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 Rumson should be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

You really shouldn't plant portulaca until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Rumson 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 fully mature. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rumson. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rumson and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rumson last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rumson

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Rumson

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