When to Plant Gerbera in Boulder, CO

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.

The first chance to plant gerbera in Boulder can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


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.

Gerbera are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gerbera
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gerbera
Probably not a good time to plant gerbera

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Boulder is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gerbera and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gerbera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gerbera indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Boulder. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Boulder is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Boulder you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gerbera if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Boulder

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Boulder

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