One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 USDA zone info for Starke can be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant catharanthus.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

You really shouldn't plant catharanthus until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Starke 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. If you wait any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Starke. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Starke may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Starke last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Starke

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Starke

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