One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first opportunity to plant catharanthus in Marietta should be figured out 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.

It's probably a bad idea to plant catharanthus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Marietta 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 really do well. If you are starting your catharanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marietta. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marietta and it is different every year. Half of the time in Marietta you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marietta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Marietta

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