One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant trailing portulaca.

Planting Calendar for Trailing Portulaca

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

You should not plant trailing portulaca until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant trailing portulaca in Mount Vernon 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 trailing portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your trailing portulaca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your trailing portulaca indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Mount Vernon. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Vernon it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your trailing portulaca in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Vernon

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 Mount Vernon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Vernon.