The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Fort Madison you can figure out when you can plant osteospermum by using 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Fort Madison 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 osteospermum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your osteospermum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your osteospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fort Madison. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Madison is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Madison last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your osteospermum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Madison

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