The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant oenothera is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 12a.

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 bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Zone 12a is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oenothera and expect a good harvest is probably November. Any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your oenothera indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 12a it never frosts. You can expect an average low temperature of 50°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 12a is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12a you do not have to be ready to protect your oenothera if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	50°F
Highest Expected Low	55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12a.