When to Plant Portulaca in Zone 6a

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.

You should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant portulaca by looking at the USDA zone info for Zone 6a.

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Planting Calendar for Portulaca

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

Portulaca require warm weather which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
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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 6a 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 Zone 6a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 6a is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 6a you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your portulaca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.