One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Dublin you can determine when you can plant catharanthus by referring to 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 a bad idea to plant catharanthus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Dublin 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your catharanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Dublin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Dublin is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Dublin there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dublin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Dublin

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