One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant oleander is to check out the USDA zone info for Kinston.

Planting Calendar for Oleander

Frost tolerance for oleander:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You can not plant oleander until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant oleander and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your oleander may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your oleander indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Kinston. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Kinston is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Kinston there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your oleander if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kinston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Kinston

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