One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 to plant phlox is to use the USDA zone info for Red Oak.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Red Oak 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Red Oak. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Red Oak is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Red Oak there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your phlox if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Red Oak

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 Red Oak

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