One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 you can plant periwinkles is to use the USDA zone info for Hempstead.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

It's probably a bad idea to 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 Hempstead 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your periwinkles indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hempstead. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Hempstead is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hempstead you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your periwinkles if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hempstead

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hempstead

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