One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant osteospermum by referring to the USDA zone info for La Crescent.

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 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 La Crescent is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant osteospermum and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your osteospermum may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your osteospermum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In La Crescent the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Crescent is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in La Crescent you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your osteospermum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Crescent

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in La Crescent

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crescent.