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 earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Ripon can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

Frost tolerance for catharanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant catharanthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Ripon 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Ripon. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ripon is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ripon last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ripon

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 Ripon

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