Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Columbus can be reffered to in order to figure out 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.

Since oenothera are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Columbus 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. 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 little bit earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Columbus. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbus is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbus you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your oenothera if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

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 Columbus

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