One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's possible to determine when it's possible to plant catharanthus by reviewing the USDA zone info for Loves Park.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Loves Park 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 really do well. If you are starting your catharanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Loves Park. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Loves Park is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Loves Park you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Loves Park

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 Loves Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Loves Park.