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When to Plant Osteospermum in West Des Moines, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant osteospermum in West Des Moines should be estimated 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.

Since osteospermum are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant osteospermum
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant osteospermum
Probably not a good time to plant osteospermum

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in West Des Moines 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. If you wait 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in West Des Moines. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for West Des Moines may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Des Moines last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your osteospermum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Des Moines

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in West Des Moines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Des Moines.