When to Plant Trailing Portulaca in Mount Carmel, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 trailing portulaca in Mount Carmel should be determined by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

Trailing Portulaca require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant trailing portulaca
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant trailing portulaca
Probably not a good time to plant trailing portulaca

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Mount Carmel 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your trailing portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mount Carmel. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Carmel may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mount Carmel you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Carmel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mount Carmel

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Carmel.