One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Emmaus you should be able to determine 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.

You really shouldn't plant portulaca until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Emmaus 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 grow to maturity. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Emmaus. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Emmaus is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Emmaus there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Emmaus

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 Emmaus

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