One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

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

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Since oenothera do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant oenothera and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your oenothera indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Rafael. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for San Rafael is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in San Rafael there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your oenothera in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Rafael

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in San Rafael

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Rafael.