One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant gaillardia is to consult the USDA zone info for Augusta.

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.

Gaillardia do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Augusta 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 gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Augusta. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Augusta is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Augusta you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your gaillardia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Augusta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Augusta

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