When to Plant Gerbera in Charleston, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Charleston you can determine when to plant gerbera by using 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 get them planted just a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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 Charleston 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. Any later than that and your gerbera may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gerbera indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Charleston the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Charleston is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your gerbera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

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 Charleston

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