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.

The USDA zone info for Sparta should be used to estimate when you can plant oenothera.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

Frost tolerance for oenothera:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Oenothera are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Sparta 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 oenothera and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your oenothera may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Sparta. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sparta is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Sparta you get a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your oenothera in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.