One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of making a decision about when to plant gaillardia is to examine the USDA zone info for Lowell.

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 means that you can plant them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Lowell 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 gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gaillardia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gaillardia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lowell. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Lowell may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lowell there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your gaillardia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lowell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Lowell

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