One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant periwinkles is to look at the USDA zone info for Marlborough.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

Since periwinkles are not cold tolerant you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Marlborough 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marlborough. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marlborough may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Marlborough last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your periwinkles in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marlborough

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Marlborough

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