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.

A common way of estimating when you can plant catharanthus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ridgeland.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant catharanthus until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Ridgeland 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. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ridgeland the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ridgeland is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ridgeland you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgeland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgeland

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