One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant gazania is to refer to the USDA zone info for Bloomington.

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 do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gazania in Bloomington 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. If you wait any later than that and your gazania may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gazania indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Bloomington. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bloomington may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bloomington last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your gazania in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomington

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 Bloomington

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