One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant oenothera is to look at the USDA zone info for Skokie.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Oenothera are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Skokie 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Skokie. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Skokie is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Skokie you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your oenothera in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Skokie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Skokie

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