One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 determining when to plant oenothera is to examine the USDA zone info for Oak Island.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Since oenothera are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Oak Island 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. Any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your oenothera indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Oak Island. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oak Island may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Oak Island it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your oenothera if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Island

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 Oak Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Island.