One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Moorpark you can determine when it's the best time to plant cosmos by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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.

Since cosmos are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Moorpark 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cosmos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cosmos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Moorpark. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Moorpark may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Moorpark there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your cosmos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Moorpark

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Moorpark

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