One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant gaillardia is to look at the USDA zone info for Chula Vista.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Chula Vista 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

In Chula Vista the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chula Vista is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Chula Vista it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chula Vista

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Chula Vista

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Chula Vista.