A study of thermal instability driven by buoyancy force is carried out in an initially quiescent infinitely extended horizontal porous medium saturated with viscoelastic fluid. Modified Darcy's law is used to explain characteristics of fluid motion. The time periodic gravity field has been considered, and its effect on the system has been investigated. A weak nonlinear stability analysis has been performed for the oscillatory mode of convection, and heat transport in terms of the Nusselt number, which is governed by the complex non-autonomous Ginzburg-Landau equation, is calculated. The influence of relaxation and retardation times of viscoelastic fluid on heat transfer has been discussed. Further, the study establishes that the heat transport can be controlled effectively by a mechanism that is external to the system. Finally, it is found that overstability advances the onset of convection, and hence increases heat transfer.