One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant gerbera in Newport News 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.

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

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Newport News 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. Starting your gerbera indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Newport News. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Newport News is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Newport News last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your gerbera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport News

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 Newport News

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Newport News.