One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Des Plaines you can estimate when it's possible to plant gerbera by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gerbera

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

Gerbera are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Des Plaines 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 gerbera and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gerbera may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your gerbera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Des Plaines. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Plaines may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Des Plaines you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gerbera in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Des Plaines

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Des Plaines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Plaines.