One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Bloomingdale can be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant osteospermum.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

Frost tolerance for osteospermum:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Osteospermum are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Bloomingdale 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. 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

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Bloomingdale. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bloomingdale and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bloomingdale last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your osteospermum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomingdale

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 Bloomingdale

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