One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Schiller Park you will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant gaillardia.

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 some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Schiller Park 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gaillardia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gaillardia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Schiller Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Schiller Park is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Schiller Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Schiller Park

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 Schiller Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Schiller Park.