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.

The best time to plant catharanthus in Bellwood should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Catharanthus require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Bellwood 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Bellwood. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bellwood is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bellwood you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bellwood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Bellwood

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