One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant catharanthus by reviewing the USDA zone info for Avenal.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Avenal is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant catharanthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your catharanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Avenal. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Avenal is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Avenal you get a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Avenal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Avenal

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