One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant cosmos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Albany.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

Frost tolerance for cosmos:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant cosmos a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Albany 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 cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cosmos indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Albany. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

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 Albany and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Albany you get a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cosmos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Albany

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Albany

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