Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant oenothera by looking at the USDA zone info for Safford.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

You can plant oenothera a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Safford is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oenothera and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your oenothera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Safford the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Safford 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 Safford it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your oenothera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Safford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Safford

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