One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Kinston you will be able to figure out when to plant catharanthus.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant catharanthus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Kinston 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. Any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Kinston. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Kinston may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Kinston it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Kinston

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 Kinston

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