One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 determining when it's possible to plant gaillardia is to look at the USDA zone info for Chesterton.

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 tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Chesterton 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. Any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your gaillardia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chesterton. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Chesterton is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Chesterton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gaillardia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chesterton

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 Chesterton

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