One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of determining when to plant catharanthus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Los Banos.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant catharanthus until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Los Banos 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. If you wait any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your catharanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Los Banos. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Los Banos and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Los Banos last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Banos

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Los Banos

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Banos.