One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Mitchell you should be able to determine when to plant purslane.

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.

Since purslane do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Mitchell 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 purslane and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purslane may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your purslane indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Mitchell. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mitchell may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mitchell you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your purslane if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mitchell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mitchell

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