One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 possible to plant oenothera is to look at the USDA zone info for Benton Harbor.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Oenothera do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Benton Harbor 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 really do well. Starting your oenothera indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Benton Harbor. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Benton Harbor is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Benton Harbor last frost occurs 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 Benton Harbor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Benton Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Benton Harbor.