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.

A common way of determining when to plant catharanthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Mcallen.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Catharanthus require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Mcallen 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 catharanthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your catharanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your catharanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Mcallen. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mcallen and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mcallen you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your catharanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mcallen

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 Mcallen

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