When to Plant Periwinkles in Chelsea, MA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's possible to plant periwinkles in Chelsea by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant periwinkles until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant periwinkles
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant periwinkles
Probably not a good time to plant periwinkles

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Chelsea 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 periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your periwinkles indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Chelsea the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chelsea is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Chelsea it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your periwinkles in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Chelsea

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