One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant oregano is to examine the USDA zone info for Pekin.

Planting Calendar for Oregano

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

Oregano tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oregano in Pekin 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 oregano and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oregano may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your oregano indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Pekin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Pekin is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Pekin you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your oregano if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pekin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Pekin

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