When to Plant Oenothera in Memphis, TN

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant oenothera is to check out the USDA zone info for Memphis.


Planting Calendar for Oenothera

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

Oenothera do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oenothera
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oenothera
Probably not a good time to plant oenothera

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Memphis 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Memphis. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Memphis may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Memphis you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your oenothera in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Memphis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Memphis

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