One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Erwin can be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant catharanthus.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Erwin 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 really do well. If you are starting your catharanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Erwin. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Erwin is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Erwin you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Erwin

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 Erwin

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