One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The best time to plant trailing portulaca in Austin can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

Frost tolerance for trailing portulaca:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Trailing Portulaca are not cold tolerant which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant trailing 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your trailing portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Austin. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Austin and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Austin you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca if you have a surprise 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.