One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Anchorage you can determine when to plant gaillardia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gaillardia

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

Gaillardia are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Anchorage is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gaillardia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Anchorage the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Anchorage is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Anchorage you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your gaillardia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Anchorage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Anchorage

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Anchorage.