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.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant portulaca is to refer to the USDA zone info for Austin.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Austin 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. Any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Austin the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Austin is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Austin you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Austin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Austin

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