One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant gerbera is to check out the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita.

Planting Calendar for Gerbera

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

Since gerbera are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Rancho Santa Margarita 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 gerbera and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gerbera may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gerbera indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Rancho Santa Margarita. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rancho Santa Margarita and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rancho Santa Margarita you get a frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your gerbera if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rancho Santa Margarita

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 Rancho Santa Margarita

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rancho Santa Margarita.