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.

In Cortland you can determine when it's a good idea to plant purslane by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since purslane are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Cortland is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purslane and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your purslane may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your purslane indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Cortland. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cortland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cortland you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your purslane if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cortland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Cortland

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