Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant osteospermum by looking at the USDA zone info for Mount Joy.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

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

Osteospermum can survive in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Mount Joy 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 really do well. Starting your osteospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Mount Joy. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Joy is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mount Joy it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your osteospermum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Joy

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 Mount Joy

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Joy.