Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In West Long Branch you can estimate when it's the best time to plant catharanthus by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in West Long Branch 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 fully mature. 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 has passed is on April 15 in West Long Branch. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Long Branch 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 West Long Branch last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your catharanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Long Branch

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 West Long Branch

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Long Branch.