One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant periwinkles is to look at the USDA zone info for Las Cruces.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

You can not plant periwinkles until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Las Cruces 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 periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your periwinkles indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Las Cruces the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Las Cruces may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Las Cruces last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your periwinkles in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Las Cruces

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 Las Cruces

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Las Cruces.