One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant oenothera is to consult the USDA zone info for Marion.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Oenothera can survive in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Marion 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. Any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oenothera indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Marion. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marion 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 Marion it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your oenothera if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Marion

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