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.

In Huntsville you can determine when it's a good idea to plant portulaca by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Huntsville 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. If you wait any later than that and your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Huntsville. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Huntsville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Huntsville last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Huntsville

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 Huntsville

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