When to Plant Gaillardia in Gretna, LA

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.

The USDA zone info for Gretna should be read to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Since gaillardia are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gaillardia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gaillardia
Probably not a good time to plant gaillardia

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Gretna 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. If you wait any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Gretna. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gretna and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gretna you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to protect your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gretna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Gretna

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