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

In Ridgecrest you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant periwinkles by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

Periwinkles require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Ridgecrest 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 periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your periwinkles indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Ridgecrest. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ridgecrest it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your periwinkles in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgecrest

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