Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant oenothera is to use the USDA zone info for Melvindale.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Oenothera are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Melvindale 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. If you are starting your oenothera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Melvindale the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Melvindale may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Melvindale last frost occurs 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 Melvindale

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 Melvindale

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