Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant trailing portulaca in Salem should be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

You should not plant trailing portulaca until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Salem 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your trailing portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Salem the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Salem last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your trailing portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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