When to Plant Osteospermum in Geneva, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Geneva 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.

Since osteospermum are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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 Geneva 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your osteospermum may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Geneva. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Geneva is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Geneva you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your osteospermum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

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