One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant gerbera by reviewing the USDA zone info for Calumet City.

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 do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Calumet City 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 really do well. Starting your gerbera 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 Calumet City. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Calumet City is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Calumet City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gerbera in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Calumet City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Calumet City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Calumet City.