One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Oxford you can determine when you can plant osteospermum by looking at 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 Oxford 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 fully mature. Starting your osteospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oxford the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Oxford is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Oxford last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your osteospermum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oxford

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 Oxford

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