Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when you can plant gazania is to look at the USDA zone info for Modesto.

Planting Calendar for Gazania

Frost tolerance for gazania:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant gazania slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gazania in Modesto 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 gazania and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your gazania may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gazania indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Modesto. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Modesto and it is different every year. Half of the time in Modesto it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gazania if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Modesto

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 Modesto

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