One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Rancho Cordova it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant cosmos.

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.

Cosmos tend to make it in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Rancho Cordova 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cosmos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Rancho Cordova. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rancho Cordova and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rancho Cordova you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your cosmos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rancho Cordova

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 Rancho Cordova

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rancho Cordova.