One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant osteospermum is to examine the USDA zone info for Orange Beach.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

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

Osteospermum tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Orange Beach 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 osteospermum and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your osteospermum may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your osteospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Orange Beach the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Orange Beach is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Orange Beach you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your osteospermum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Orange Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Orange Beach.