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

In Virginia you can estimate when it's possible to plant oenothera by checking out 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.

Oenothera are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Virginia is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oenothera and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to really do well. 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 May 15 in Virginia. It might get as low as -35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Virginia is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Virginia there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your oenothera if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Virginia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Virginia

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