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.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant oenothera by reviewing the USDA zone info for Seward.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Since oenothera do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Seward 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Seward. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Seward and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Seward it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your oenothera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Seward

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Seward

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