Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when to plant portulaca by reviewing the USDA zone info for Swarthmore.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Swarthmore 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. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Swarthmore. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Swarthmore is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Swarthmore it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Swarthmore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Swarthmore

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