When to Plant Gaillardia in Fountain Hills, AZ

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 Fountain Hills you can figure out when it's the best time 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.

Since gaillardia do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gaillardia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gaillardia
Probably not a good time to plant gaillardia

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Fountain Hills is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gaillardia 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 February 15 in Fountain Hills. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fountain Hills is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fountain Hills you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gaillardia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fountain Hills

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Fountain Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fountain Hills.