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.

You will be able to determine when it's possible to plant catharanthus by checking out the USDA zone info for Mansfield.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

You really shouldn't plant catharanthus until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Mansfield 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 grow to maturity. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Mansfield. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mansfield is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mansfield there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your catharanthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mansfield

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 Mansfield

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