One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when to plant osteospermum is to look at the USDA zone info for Rensselaer.

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 some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Rensselaer 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 really do well. Starting your osteospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rensselaer. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Rensselaer is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rensselaer you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your osteospermum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rensselaer

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 Rensselaer

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