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

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant catharanthus is to check out the USDA zone info for Bath.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

It's probably 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 Bath 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bath. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bath and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bath 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 Bath

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Bath

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