One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant portulaca is to look at the USDA zone info for Millersville.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Millersville 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Millersville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Millersville may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Millersville there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Millersville

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 Millersville

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