One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant periwinkles is to check out the USDA zone info for Apex.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

Frost tolerance for periwinkles:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant periwinkles until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Apex 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your periwinkles may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your periwinkles indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Apex. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Apex is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Apex you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your periwinkles if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Apex

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Apex

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