Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Hillsborough can be looked at to figure out when to plant osteospermum.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

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

Since osteospermum 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 osteospermum in Hillsborough 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 osteospermum and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your osteospermum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your osteospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hillsborough. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Hillsborough is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hillsborough there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your osteospermum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsborough

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 Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 Hillsborough

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