The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Marion should be reviewed to figure out when to plant catharanthus.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

You can not plant catharanthus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Marion 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 catharanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your catharanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marion. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marion is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Marion you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Marion.