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.

The first opportunity to plant osteospermum in Marathon can be estimated 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.

Osteospermum do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Marathon 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 November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your osteospermum may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your osteospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marathon it never frosts. You should expect an average low temperature of 45°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marathon is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since it never frosts in Marathon you do not have to be ready to cover your osteospermum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marathon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Marathon

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