Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Tempe should be estimated 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 tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Tempe 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Tempe. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Tempe and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Tempe last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your gaillardia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tempe

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 Tempe

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