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.

In Red Wing you can estimate when to plant catharanthus by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Catharanthus require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Red Wing 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. If you are starting your catharanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Red Wing the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Red Wing and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Red Wing you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Wing

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 Red Wing

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Wing.