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When to Plant Catharanthus in Fort Collins, CO

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.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant catharanthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Fort Collins.


Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

You really shouldn't plant catharanthus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant catharanthus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant catharanthus
Probably not a good time to plant catharanthus

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Fort Collins 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 catharanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fort Collins. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Collins and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Fort Collins it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Collins

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Fort Collins

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Collins.