Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant osteospermum is to check out the USDA zone info for Shippensburg.

Planting Calendar for Osteospermum

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

Osteospermum tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in Shippensburg 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your osteospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shippensburg. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Shippensburg is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Shippensburg it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your osteospermum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shippensburg

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 Shippensburg

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