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.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant trailing portulaca by using the USDA zone info for Childress.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant trailing portulaca until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Childress 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Childress the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Childress and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Childress you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Childress

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Childress

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