One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant catharanthus in Sparta can be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Sparta is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 really do well. If you are starting your catharanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sparta the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sparta is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sparta you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your catharanthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Sparta

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