Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 West Monroe can be reviewed to determine when 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 do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in West Monroe 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 fully mature. Starting your gaillardia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Monroe the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Monroe is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Monroe last frost occurs 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 West Monroe

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 West Monroe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Monroe.