One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant portulaca in Erie can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca require warm weather which means 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 Erie 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Erie. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Erie is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Erie you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

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 Erie

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