One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant purslane is to look at the USDA zone info for Chesapeake.

Planting Calendar for Purslane

Frost tolerance for purslane:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Purslane are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purslane in Chesapeake is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purslane and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purslane may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your purslane indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Chesapeake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Chesapeake is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chesapeake you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your purslane in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chesapeake

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 Chesapeake

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