When to Plant Catharanthus in Zone 5a

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant catharanthus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 5a.


Planting Calendar for Catharanthus

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

Since catharanthus are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant catharanthus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant catharanthus
Probably not a good time to plant catharanthus

The earliest that you can plant catharanthus in Zone 5a 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your catharanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 5a is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5a you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your catharanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.