Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant portulaca is to look at the USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Big Stone Gap 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Big Stone Gap. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Big Stone Gap there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Stone Gap

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Stone Gap

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Stone Gap.