When to Plant Portulaca in Falls Church, VA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 it's the best time to plant portulaca is to look at the USDA zone info for Falls Church.


Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant portulaca
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant portulaca
Probably not a good time to plant portulaca

The earliest that you can plant portulaca in Falls Church 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your portulaca indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Falls Church the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Falls Church is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Falls Church it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Falls Church

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Falls Church

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Falls Church.