One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

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

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus 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 catharanthus in Mankato is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Mankato. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mankato 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 Mankato last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mankato

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mankato

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