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.

The best time to plant gaillardia in Kenai can be figured out by using 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 do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Kenai 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Kenai. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Kenai is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Kenai last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your gaillardia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Kenai

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 Kenai

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