One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Rapid City can be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant oleander.

Planting Calendar for Oleander

Frost tolerance for oleander:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Oleander do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant oleander in Rapid City 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. If you wait any later than that and your oleander may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your oleander indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Rapid City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

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

USDA Zone Info for Rapid City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rapid City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rapid City.