One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant gaillardia is to check out the USDA zone info for Franklin.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Franklin is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Franklin. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Franklin is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Franklin it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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