The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant portulaca is to examine the USDA zone info for Emporia.

Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Emporia 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Emporia. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Emporia is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Emporia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Emporia

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 Emporia

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