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.

You will be able to figure out when to plant catharanthus by checking out the USDA zone info for Mount Joy.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

You should not plant catharanthus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Mount Joy 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. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mount Joy. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mount Joy and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Joy it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Joy

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 Mount Joy

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Joy.