One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Utica should be read to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Since osteospermum are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Utica 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your osteospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Utica the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Utica and it is different every year. Half of the time in Utica there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your osteospermum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Utica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Utica

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