When to Plant Portulaca in Zone 11a

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant portulaca is to use the USDA zone info for Zone 11a.


Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Since portulaca require warm weather you need to wait until 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 Zone 11a is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant portulaca and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your portulaca may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your portulaca indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 11a it never frosts. It might get as low as 40°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 11a is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 11a you do not have to be ready to protect your portulaca if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 11a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)Never
Lowest Expected Low40°F
Highest Expected Low45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 45°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 11a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 11a.