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When to Plant Oenothera in East Chicago, IN

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in East Chicago can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Since oenothera do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oenothera
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oenothera
Probably not a good time to plant oenothera

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in East Chicago 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your oenothera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for East Chicago and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in East Chicago you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your oenothera if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for East Chicago

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 East Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Chicago.