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.

In Somerset you can determine when it's the best time to plant purslane by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Purslane do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Somerset is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purslane and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your purslane may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your purslane indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Somerset. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Somerset is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Somerset last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your purslane in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Somerset

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Somerset

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