One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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 way of getting a good idea when you can plant periwinkles is to check out the USDA zone info for Cortez.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

Periwinkles require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Cortez 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. Any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your periwinkles indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cortez. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cortez is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Cortez it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your periwinkles if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cortez

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Cortez

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