The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant catharanthus is to use the USDA zone info for Carthage.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Catharanthus are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Carthage 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. If you wait any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Carthage. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Carthage may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Carthage you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carthage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Carthage

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