One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's a good idea to estimate when you can plant catharanthus by referring to the USDA zone info for Newport.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

It's not a good idea to plant catharanthus until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Newport 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. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Newport. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Newport is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

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 Newport

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