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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant gaillardia in Ponchatoula by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Ponchatoula 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. 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Ponchatoula. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ponchatoula and it is different every year. Half of the time in Ponchatoula there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ponchatoula

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ponchatoula

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