Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant osteospermum is to examine the USDA zone info for Derby.

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 tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Derby. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Derby and it is different every year. Half of the time in Derby it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your osteospermum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Derby

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Derby

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