One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Fort Lauderdale you can estimate when it's the best time 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.

Since osteospermum are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Fort Lauderdale 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. If you wait any later than that and your osteospermum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your osteospermum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Fort Lauderdale. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Lauderdale is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Lauderdale you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to protect your osteospermum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Lauderdale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Lauderdale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Lauderdale.