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

You can estimate when to plant catharanthus in Marion by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Catharanthus require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Marion 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. Any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Marion. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Marion is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Marion you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your catharanthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

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