Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Opelousas should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant periwinkles.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

Since periwinkles require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Opelousas is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your periwinkles may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your periwinkles indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Opelousas the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Opelousas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Opelousas

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