The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant osteospermum is to look at the USDA zone info for Birmingham.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

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

Osteospermum 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 osteospermum in Birmingham 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. Any later than that and your osteospermum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your osteospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Birmingham the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Birmingham and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Birmingham it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your osteospermum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Birmingham

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 Birmingham

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