One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant osteospermum by looking at the USDA zone info for La Porte.

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 a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant osteospermum in La Porte is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant osteospermum and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your osteospermum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your osteospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in La Porte. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Porte is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in La Porte you get a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your osteospermum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Porte

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 La Porte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Porte.