One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant gayfeather by checking out the USDA zone info for Springfield.

Planting Calendar for Gayfeather

Frost tolerance for gayfeather:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Gayfeather do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gayfeather in Springfield 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 gayfeather and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your gayfeather may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your gayfeather indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Springfield. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in 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 Springfield and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Springfield last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gayfeather if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

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 Springfield

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