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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant oleander is to check out the USDA zone info for Sonoma.

Planting Calendar for Oleander

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

Oleander require warm weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Sonoma. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sonoma 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 Sonoma you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your oleander if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sonoma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Sonoma

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