One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Oxford it's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant iresene.

Planting Calendar for Iresene

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

You should not plant iresene until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant iresene in Oxford 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 iresene and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iresene may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your iresene indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oxford the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oxford and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Oxford you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your iresene if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oxford

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 Oxford

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