One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 West Monroe you can estimate when it's the best time to 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.

You can plant osteospermum a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in West Monroe 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 grow to maturity. Starting your osteospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in West Monroe. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Monroe and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in West Monroe there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your osteospermum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Monroe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in West Monroe

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