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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Hagerstown it's a good idea to figure out when to plant catharanthus.

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 it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Hagerstown 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. Any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your catharanthus 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 Hagerstown. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Hagerstown is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hagerstown you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hagerstown

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 Low	0°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 Hagerstown

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