One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant catharanthus by checking out the USDA zone info for Spencer.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

Frost tolerance for catharanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since catharanthus are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Spencer 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 all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Spencer. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Spencer may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Spencer you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spencer

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 Spencer

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