One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant purslane is to examine the USDA zone info for Swarthmore.

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 very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Swarthmore 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 fully mature. If you are starting your purslane indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Swarthmore the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Swarthmore and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Swarthmore you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your purslane if you have 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.