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

One way of making a decision about when you can plant catharanthus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Joshua.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

You should not plant catharanthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Joshua 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Joshua the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Joshua is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Joshua you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your catharanthus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Joshua

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 Joshua

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