One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Alameda you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant gaillardia.

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.

You can plant gaillardia a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Alameda 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gaillardia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Alameda. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alameda is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alameda you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alameda

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Alameda

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