Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant catharanthus is to examine the USDA zone info for Fredericksburg.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

It's not a good idea to plant catharanthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Fredericksburg 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

In Fredericksburg the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fredericksburg may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fredericksburg last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fredericksburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fredericksburg

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