One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 best time to plant portulaca in Shenandoah should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

Frost tolerance for portulaca:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant portulaca until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Shenandoah 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. Any later than that and 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

In Shenandoah the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shenandoah and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shenandoah it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shenandoah

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 Shenandoah

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