One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Madera you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant osteospermum by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

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

You can plant osteospermum a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Madera 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. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Madera. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madera and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Madera last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your osteospermum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madera

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 Madera

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