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.

The USDA zone info for Ontario can be reviewed to figure out when it's possible to plant periwinkles.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

Since periwinkles require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Ontario 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your periwinkles may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your periwinkles indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Ontario the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°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 Ontario and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ontario it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your periwinkles if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ontario

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 Ontario

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