One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

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

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

Frost tolerance for portulaca:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since portulaca do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Bedford 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 grow to maturity. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Bedford. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bedford is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bedford you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your portulaca if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Bedford

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