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

You should be able to determine when to plant portulaca by using the USDA zone info for Mentor.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Mentor 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. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Mentor. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mentor is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mentor it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mentor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

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

Plants to Grow in Mentor

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