One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant catharanthus in Key West can be determined by checking out 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.

Since catharanthus do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Key West is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant catharanthus and expect a good harvest is probably November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your catharanthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Key West it never frosts. You can expect an average low temperature of 45°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Key West is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Key West you do not have to be ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Key West

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Key West

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Key West.