One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant catharanthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Absecon.

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 when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Absecon 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Absecon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Absecon may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Absecon last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your catharanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Absecon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Absecon

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