The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant cosmos is to use the USDA zone info for Crystal City.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

Frost tolerance for cosmos:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since cosmos are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Crystal City 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 cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cosmos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Crystal City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Crystal City is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Crystal City you get a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your cosmos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Crystal City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Crystal City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Crystal City.