One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first opportunity to plant cosmos in White Oak should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

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.

Cosmos do well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in White Oak is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cosmos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in White Oak. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for White Oak and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in White Oak there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cosmos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for White Oak

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in White Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for White Oak.