Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant gazania is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ottumwa.

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.

Gazania 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 other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gazania in Ottumwa 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 gazania and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gazania may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gazania indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ottumwa. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottumwa is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ottumwa last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your gazania in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottumwa

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 Ottumwa

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