Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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 estimate when it's the best time to plant portulaca by referring to the USDA zone info for Signal Mountain.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

Frost tolerance for portulaca:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since portulaca require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Signal Mountain 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Signal Mountain the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Signal Mountain is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Signal Mountain last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your portulaca if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Signal Mountain

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 Signal Mountain

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Signal Mountain.