One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of determining when you can plant oleander is to examine the USDA zone info for Portland.

Planting Calendar for Oleander

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

Since oleander require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant oleander in Portland 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 really do well. If you are starting your oleander indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Portland the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Portland is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Portland there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your oleander in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Portland

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