One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant gaillardia in La Mesa can be figured out by using 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 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 more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in La Mesa 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In La Mesa the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You can expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for La Mesa is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in La Mesa last frost occurs after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gaillardia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Mesa

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 La Mesa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Mesa.