Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when to plant oenothera is to use the USDA zone info for Wheaton.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Oenothera tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Wheaton 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. If you wait any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wheaton. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wheaton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Wheaton last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your oenothera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wheaton

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 Wheaton

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