One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Elsa you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant periwinkles.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

Since periwinkles require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles in Elsa is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your periwinkles indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Elsa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elsa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elsa you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your periwinkles if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elsa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Elsa

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