Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant trailing portulaca by looking at the USDA zone info for Springfield.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Since trailing portulaca are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Springfield 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Springfield. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Springfield is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Springfield you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Springfield

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